


My Love, My Pride

by Biscuit Lion (cookiethelion)



Category: Pentagon (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Anal Sex, Awkward Kissing, Eventual Relationships, First Time, Gumiho - Freeform, Jinhui get a cameo, Kitsune!Yuto, M/M, Not-Friends to something confusing that involves feelings to Lovers, Oral Sex, gumiho!Hyunggu, gumiho!Shinwon, slow-ish updates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:40:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 47,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25632208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cookiethelion/pseuds/Biscuit%20Lion
Summary: Shinwon is a proud gumiho who despises humans, and Hongseok is a human wary of all nine-tailed foxes. When Hongseok swallows Shinwon's fox bead, neither of them are happy with the situation they're in. Lucky for them, there is one way that Shinwon can get his bead back--he needs to kiss Hongseok one hundred times...
Relationships: Adachi Yuto/Jung Wooseok, Ko Shinwon/Yang Hongseok
Comments: 8
Kudos: 51





	1. I am a fox

**Author's Note:**

> I've been itching to write a gumiho!au for a while. As I was writing this, I started picturing everyone a la Shalala era, so by default, this fic is set in 2019.
> 
> Updates for this fic won't be as frequent as Talk To Him, as the chapters for this fic will be much longer.

The worst event of Shinwon’s life started on Saturday at seven o’clock, when he rang the doorbell to Yuto and Wooseok’s flat.

Yuto and Wooseok. The two names didn’t sound good together, in his opinion. There was no harmony, no beauty, in the sound. An outsider would say that he was just in denial that his best friend of nearly a century had decided to settle down; but Shinwon would argue that gumihos—and, by relativity, kitsunes and huli jings—and humans should never interact with each other, let alone become lovers.

He heard footsteps from the other side of the door, and he splayed out all nine tails like a peacock displaying its train. He clenched his jaw as he gently contracted the muscles in his throat, to make the outline of his fox bead even more prominent. Shinwon kept up his position until the door opened, and he relaxed everything when he saw Yuto had answered.

“You came—” said Yuto, and he leapt forward to hug him.

Shinwon rested his chin on Yuto’s shoulder as he hugged him back, and he looked down. Both of Yuto’s red fox tails were waggling; and the tip of the rightmost one was curled in like usual. When he looked up again, he saw somebody, presumably Wooseok, standing further down the hallway. Shinwon shot up all his tails again. Yuto let go of him, glanced over his shoulder, and then grabbed Shinwon’s wrist and led him into the flat.

“Wooseok-ie,” said Yuto, “this is Shinwon.”

“Hi,” said Wooseok, smiling. He held his hand out. “I’m Wooseok, I’m Yuto’s boyfriend.”

Shinwon looked Wooseok up and down. The first thought that struck him was how on earth Yuto had managed to find someone taller than them both. Wooseok was lanky, but at least he had good, strong facial features. He looked intimidating, but the excited gleam in his eyes betrayed him.

“Hi,” said Shinwon, as he wrapped his tails around his body. “I’m Yuto’s friend, Shinwon, and I’m also his ex.”

Wooseok’s lips quivered a little as he dropped his hand by his side again. “Do you … do you say that to everyone?”

Shinwon kept up eye contact as he cocked his head to his right. “It depends who I’m talking to,” was his answer. He felt Yuto stroke the two tails he had draped over his right shoulder, and he turned to him. “Can we talk?”

Yuto’s eyes darted towards Wooseok first, before he looked back at Shinwon. “Sure,” he said, and he led Shinwon into the kitchen, which was not too far down to their right.

“Yuto-ya,” said Shinwon, as his friend shut the door. “How could you betray me like this?”

“Hyung, please,” said Yuto.

“You are a _kitsune_ , Adachi Yuto.” Shinwon pointed at Yuto’s tails. “Remember when you turned one hundred? You were so excited to get your second tail. You said you couldn’t wait to be like me. You couldn’t wait to be a tenko. How could you give this all up for a _human_?”

Yuto reached over to hold Shinwon’s hand, except Shinwon flung it free.

“That was before I met Wooseok,” said Yuto. “We were destined to be together, hyung. He was born at the exact moment the sunshower happened.”

“What sun—?” Shinwon’s tails shot up as he remembered. “ _Our_ sunshower? The one that convinced you we were meant to be a couple? The one that made you believe signs and symbols were meaningless after we split?”

Late in January 1998, a few days after Yuto’s second tail had appeared, a sunshower had happened just as Shinwon and Yuto had been walking through the park. The nearest tree had been a short run away, and they had both been soaked through by the time they made it. As they took cover, Shinwon had become aware of Yuto’s giggles and his hands on his arms, and then he’d seen how Yuto’s t-shirt clinging to his abs and how his hair was plastered to his face—and then he’d caught his eye, and he’d wrapped all his tails around Yuto as they kissed. Now that Shinwon thought hard about it, it was probably under that same tree that they’d broken up four months later.

“Yes, that one. When I saw him for the first time, I could see the sunshower in his eyes.” Yuto sighed, and clasped his hand on top of Shinwon’s. “You know I’ll never regret going out with you.”

Shinwon just sighed. Yuto leaned in closer.

“Hyung, I know you’re curious,” said Yuto. “Don’t you want to know the person I’m sacrificing everything for?”

Shinwon wriggled his hand out of Yuto’s again, and turned to face him directly. It was bad enough that he was being made to meet Yuto’s boyfriend, but to be reminded as well that Yuto had already been with him for a hundred days? If he kept this up for another nine hundred, then he would transform into a human. He couldn’t be friends with a _human_ , for goodness sake.

“Tell me honestly,” said Shinwon, “has Wooseok got your hoshi no tama?”

Yuto laughed, nervously, as he raised his rightmost tail. “No, he doesn’t.”

Shinwon crossed his tails across his chest even tighter. “Don’t forget we have an agreement,” he said, as he looked at Yuto through narrowed eyes. “You can’t force me to meet him again after this.”

Yuto smiled so brightly that Shinwon rolled his eyes. He didn’t resist when the kitsune hugged him, although he elbowed him away when it drew on for too long.

“Thank you so much, hyung,” said Yuto, still smiling. His tails were wagging with a velocity that Shinwon had never seen before. “I know you’ll like Wooseok’s friends. Everyone’s really nice, and one of them is single, and he’s _really_ buff.” Yuto winked, and Shinwon looked away.

“I am a fox,” he said, “I don’t understand winking.”

Yuto giggled, and he dragged Shinwon out into the living room. Wooseok had sat down on one of the sofas, and he was staring at the four pizza takeaway boxes placed on the table in front of him.

“We ordered pizza,” said Yuto. “Help yourself, hyung.”

Wooseok sat up straight, and twisted around to face them. “Can we _finally_ eat?” he said.

Yuto rolled his eyes. “Yes, we can.”

Wooseok flung his arms in the air as he screeched, and Shinwon concluded that he had all the grace and dignity of a bear. Wooseok leaned over to flick open the boxes, revealing four pizzas with different toppings. The smell that emerged made Shinwon crinkle his nose, and he stepped back until he was on the other side of the doorframe. Yuto followed him.

“I thought you hated pizza,” said Shinwon. He covered his nose with a tail, as the nausea was starting to grow too much.

“I’m getting used to it,” said Yuto. “I can see why humans love it.”

Shinwon looked into the room again. Wooseok was attempting to stuff a slice into his mouth. Even though he only managed to get half of it in, Shinwon covered his nose and mouth with even more tails as he held in a retch.

“Hyung,” said Yuto, “give it a try. We’ve got a pepperoni and sweetcorn one.”

Shinwon shook his head. “Have you got any proper food?”

Yuto looked at him, like he wanted to persuade him. After a few moments, he sighed, and said, “Go into the kitchen. There’s some eggs and some fruit in the first cupboard on your left.”

Shinwon scurried off to the kitchen, and opened the cupboard. He lowered all his tails again as he grinned, and dragged out a box of six eggs. There was also a bunch of bananas inside, and packs of green and red apples. As he reached in to grab the apples as well, his ears twitched, and he could hear Yuto and Wooseok speaking in hushed tones.

“He doesn’t hate you,” he heard Yuto say, “he just needs time. He’s not used to being around humans yet.”

“Yeah, but babe, he’s not happy I’m dating you, is he?”

“Don’t say that. I know he is, deep down. If he wasn’t, he would never have agreed to come.” There was a rustling sound. “Don’t get stressed out. Tonight’s all about us.” What followed was a faint squelching noise that Shinwon had come to associate with kissing. He tried not to picture what Wooseok and Yuto were doing, and instead focused on cracking open an eggshell, and he dribbled the yolk into his mouth.

Shinwon stayed in the kitchen as he finished off the other five eggs, and he had taken a bite into a green apple when the doorbell rang. Yuto appeared by the kitchen door.

“Wooseok’s friends are here,” he said. “Do you want to come with me, hyung?”

“I can’t really say no, can I?” said Shinwon, as he followed Yuto out.

Yuto opened the door to reveal three people standing on the other side. The first thing Shinwon noticed about them was their height. The shortest one had dyed his hair grey-blue, and he had his arm around the waist of somebody only just taller than him, who had orange hair. Behind them was their much taller friend, whose spiky black hair looked boring in comparison; but Shinwon looked at him longer, drawn in by his muscular arms that were currently crossed across his chest, and the steely glare in his eyes. How interesting, he thought, that tonight, he had found a human who seemed to be displeased to meet him after so many years.

“Hi,” said the blue haired one, “I’m Jinho. This is my boyfriend, Hwitaek, and this is our friend, Hongseok.”

Shinwon looked down, and tutted. Why did Yuto have to make friends with people that short? He was going to have never-ending neck problems if he kept this up. He grinned when he saw Jinho and Hwitaek exchange glances, and he raised his tails.

“Hi,” he said.

“Wow,” said Hwitaek, as his eyes glazed over all the tails, “that’s a … a lot of tails.” Shinwon could hear his voice tremble a little.

“Isn’t this magnificent?” Shinwon held his arms out either side of him. Jinho and Hwitaek nodded, but Hongseok just crossed his arms even tighter.

“Why don’t you come in?” said Yuto, as he took one step closer to the humans. His leg jutted out just far enough to block Shinwon, like he was prepared to sweep him aside if necessary. “Wooseok’s been wondering when you were going to get here.”

Shinwon stepped aside of his own accord, and soon, the whole party gathered in the living room. Most of the talking was done between Wooseok, Yuto, Jinho, and Hwitaek. Although Hongseok contributed every now and then, he spent the majority of his time eating pizza, and his glare always cooled whenever he looked at Shinwon. If he looked at Yuto, it was sometimes kind, sometimes distrustful.

Shinwon spoke the least, and he refused to drop his tails. All Yuto had asked him to do was to come to the party; frankly, everything he said so far was more than what was required of him. As the hours drew on, Shinwon kept glancing over at Hongseok, often staring at his arms and wondering what the rest of his body looked like under his t-shirt; and when the evening drew on, Shinwon decided to slide over, and laid on his side in front of him. He propped his head up with his hand, and he draped his tails over his hips, neatly covering up his lap even though he was fully clothed.

“Hi,” said Shinwon, grinning. He wriggled his fingers on his other hand, like he was waving.

Hongseok shuffled away a little, and his eyes narrowed. He greeted Shinwon back in a stiff tone.

“You’re very quiet,” said Shinwon.

“So are you.”

“These guys aren’t _my_ friends.” Shinwon leaned in, and Hongseok retreated again.

“I don’t relax well around strangers,” said Hongseok, his tone still unfriendly.

Shinwon harrumphed. “You wouldn’t say that if I was a human.”

Hongseok shuffled on the spot. “If that’s what you think—”

“ _Relax_ , the feeling’s mutual. You’re here for Wooseok, not Yuto. I’m here for Yuto, not Wooseok.”

Hongseok stared at him, and then stood up. Shinwon rolled onto his back as he watched him walk over to the other side of the room, where he started to talk to Jinho and Hwitaek. Shinwon caught Yuto’s eye, and humphed when he saw the kitsune smile at him. He rolled back onto his side to turn his back to Yuto; and for the rest of the party, he didn’t bother Hongseok again.

Jinho and Hwitaek were the first to leave at eleven o’clock. Hongseok stayed behind for another fifteen minutes, but as he was putting his jacket on by the main door, Yuto dragged Shinwon over to him with a worried look on his face. Wooseok followed them.

“Hongseok,” said Yuto, “are you walking through the park tonight?”

“I am,” said Hongseok. He was looking down as he slipped his right foot into his trainer. “Why?”

“Shinwon hyung, can you go with him?”

Hongseok looked up instantly. “No way—” he said.

“What—?” said Shinwon, at the same time. It was bad enough that he’d sat through an entire party; now Yuto was asking him to accompany Hongseok? What was he, a bodyguard?

Yuto frowned. “I have a bad feeling,” he said. “I’m scared for Hongseok’s safety.”

Shinwon looked at Hongseok. “You heard him,” he said, “walk around the park. Don’t go through it.”

Hongseok crossed his arms. “Absolutely not. It’s going to take forever to go around it.”

“Do you _have_ to cross it?”

“Yes. My flat is on the other side.”

“Call a taxi then.”

Hongseok snorted. “Do I look like I can afford one?”

“Hyung, let me pay for it,” said Wooseok.

“Absolutely not. I’m not taking a taxi.” Hongseok turned to Yuto. “Does he have to come with me? I’ve gone through it plenty of times alone at night.”

Yuto bit his lower lip. “Tonight’s different. I just _know_ that if Shinwon hyung doesn’t go with you, something’s going to take advantage of you.”

“Like what?” said Hongseok. He sounded brave, but his face had paled a little.

Shinwon sighed. “There’s no point arguing,” he said. “Yuto’s always been accurate about these things. I’ll just walk by your side, and I’ll leave you alone once you’re out of the park.”

“Hyung, let Shinwon go with you,” Wooseok added. Shinwon noticed him slip his hand into Yuto’s.

Hongseok narrowed his eyes, and then looked at Wooseok and Yuto. “I trust _you_ ,” he said, but it seemed as though he was speaking through gritted teeth. He looked away as he slipped on his left shoe. He mumbled his goodbye as he pulled the door open, and Shinwon had to sprint after him.

They said nothing in the lift down, or as they walked down several, mostly empty streets. The first noise Shinwon made was a scoff, when they entered the park. Until now, he couldn’t fathom why humans ever decided that it was a good idea to build flats and shops and roads in an area long known for its greenery, then freak out when they realised there was a certain section they couldn’t build in, and then transform it into a gated park. He could still remember the day his beloved tree had been cut down, to make way for a block of flats that was ten floors high and painted in a garish shade of cream white. The whole town was an eyesore anyway, but that particular block was the worst.

In the day, the park was made up of huge swathes of grass broken up by criss-crossing paths, and the occasional cluster of trees and benches dotted around. By night, the whole place was occupied with the ghosts of mainly elderly people walking around the park, oblivious to the fact that they had passed away. Shinwon looked around as he followed Hongseok; as far as he could tell, the only creatures capable of causing any harm were a pair of dokkaebi, but they were on the other side of the park, oblivious to the human walking through.

“Slow down,” said Shinwon, as he struggled to keep up with Hongseok. “I can’t protect you like this.”

“I’m tired, I want to go to bed,” said Hongseok, as he barely looked behind him.

Shinwon caught up with him, and grinned. “I like you.”

Hongseok sidestepped away. “What for?”

“You’re the first person in a long time who doesn’t like me.”

Hongseok stopped, and so did Shinwon. “You like me, because I don’t like you…?”

Shinwon nodded. Hongseok just rolled his eyes, and resumed walking.

“Listen, I meant what I said at Yuto’s,” Shinwon continued. “The feeling’s mutual. My ancestors ate your ancestors; and your ancestors chopped the tails off mine.”

“Do you ever shut up?”

“Kid, I said I’d walk with you. I never said I’d do it in silence,” said Shinwon. Hongseok scowled even more. “I’m a gumiho of my word. I’ll leave you alone the moment we’re out of here.”

“You better—”

“Fancy seeing you with a human, Shinwon.”

Shinwon spun around, where Hyunggu was standing behind them. All of Hyunggu’s tails were up and gently swaying at the tips, and he was smirking wide enough for Shinwon to just about glimpse the gold bead sitting on the tip of his tongue. How cocky of him, Shinwon thought, to flout his bead like that, when he hadn’t even found a human to target. He hated that type of behaviour the most.

“Piss off, Hyunggu,” said Shinwon, as he sidled in front of Hongseok. He splayed out his tails.

“I never said I was going to do anything,” said Hyunggu, as he started to approach.

Shinwon retreated. He kept going even after he bumped into Hongseok, who at least was smart enough to also walk away, and stay silent.

“If you’re so desperate for a snog, go and find your own human,” said Shinwon. He could feel Hongseok’s hands on his shoulders.

“What if I like your one as well?”

“Tough luck. I found him first.”

Hyunggu cocked his head. “You haven’t done anything to him.”

“I’m so charming, I don’t need to use any special powers.”

Shinwon could tell what Hyunggu wanted to do: he wanted to kiss Hongseok so he could slip his bead into him. The bead would drain all of Hongseok’s energy, and he would faint once Hyunggu took his bead back again. Since Hyunggu had no sense of responsibility, he would no doubt run away, and it would be left to Shinwon to carry Hongseok somewhere safe for him to wake up again. A part of Shinwon wanted to throw Hongseok over to Hyunggu right there—why not, they were nothing more than strangers—but he had no clue where Hongseok lived, and Shinwon didn’t have a home of his own. The only reason why Shinwon was still defending him was because of his promise to Yuto. There was no way he could go back to Yuto’s with an unconscious Hongseok in his arms.

“How funny,” said Hyunggu, with a straight face and an angry glare, “I think you’re bluffing.”

Shinwon narrowed his eyes as he went over the three options he had in his mind. The first was that he and Hongseok ran away, and hopefully manage to shake off Hyunggu—except the younger gumiho was quite athletic, and Shinwon had a feeling that while Hongseok probably could outrun him, he doubted if he would be able to keep up with them. The second option was to fight; but out of all the times they’d fought, Shinwon reckoned their victories were half and half. He was still pissed off from last time, two years ago, when Hyunggu had managed to scrape a few furs off his tails.

That left option three, which was that Shinwon used his bead on Hongseok. Hyunggu just wanted energy; a fainting Hongseok had no value to him. He licked his lips. There was nothing abnormal about it, he told himself as he wrapped a tail around Hongseok’s wrist, and then took his place by his side. He had more than a whole century’s worth of experience when it came to kissing humans and absorbing their energy. The idea of sticking his tongue into Hongseok’s mouth, however, was making his stomach churn—or maybe he could just kiss him without putting his bead into his mouth. He’d managed it when he had gone out with Yuto; it had come natural to him then.

“What’re you doing?” said Hongseok, without really moving his lips. His eyes were wide, and his stare was even angrier than Hyunggu’s.

Shinwon chose to look at Hyunggu as he curled his remaining eight tails around Hongseok’s torso. He placed both hands on either side of Hongseok’s neck and gently tugged him closer. He gasped when he felt Hongseok’s fists bump his chest hard.

“Who says I’m bluffing?” said Shinwon. He turned to Hongseok, and looked down at his chin. “Don’t swallow,” was all he said, before he clenched his teeth and pursed his lips, and kissed Hongseok.

Shinwon screwed his eyes shut, and scrunched up his nose, and puffed out his cheeks. He pushed his tongue against the bottom of his mouth as he tried to contract the muscles in his throat once again—and then he whined when he felt his bead roll up along the back of his mouth, and land neatly on the tip of his tongue. He bit down even harder as his tongue pressed against the bottom row of his teeth. He gripped on Hongseok tightened, and he could feel the other man wriggling and jumping on the spot.

A vein bulged from the side of Shinwon’s head—and then his jaw slackened as his tongue darted past his teeth and lips, and pushed Hongseok’s mouth open. His tongue slid over Hongseok’s, and he felt the bead roll off the tip before he retracted his tongue. He moaned out of frustration at his own goddamn reflexes. Hongseok whinged as his fists beat Shinwon’s chest, and he ended up stomping on his foot more than once. Tears pooled in Shinwon’s eyes, mainly from all the tension in his face, and he slipped his tongue into Hongseok’s mouth once more. All he had to do was swipe his bead back, and they could part, and Hongseok would faint, and Shinwon would take him back to Yuto’s and explain what had happened—

Shinwon licked the entirety of Hongseok’s mouth. There was nothing there.

With a cry, Shinwon sprung back as he released his tails. His mouth refused to shut, and his eyes widened as he looked at Hongseok. The latter had stilled; and although his eyes were open, his irises had changed into a golden colour, and his stare was blank. Hongseok had swallowed his bead. If Hongseok looked up at the sky now, his knowledge of the world would rival Shinwon’s, and he would gain some special superpower too; if he looked down at the ground, he would be able to see ghosts, spirits, and other creatures usually invisible to the human eye; and it just lucky, really, that it was night time and there were no other humans present in the park for Hongseok to observe. Shinwon pressed the sides of his hand to Hongseok’s cheekbones, and he splayed his fingers to try and shield as much of his vision as possible.

“Look at me,” he said, in the most urgent tone he could muster, “keep looking at me.”

He did his best to keep Hongseok’s head steady, and he repeated himself until Hongseok’s eyes returned to brown, and the blankness had been replaced with disgust and anger. Hongseok pushed Shinwon away, and began to wipe his mouth on the sleeve of his jacket.

“You’re disgusting—” said Hongseok.

“My bead—” said Shinwon, at the same time.

“—you stick your tongue into my mouth, and then you put things in there, and god knows what I swallowed—” Hongseok gasped. “That wasn’t your—”

“I _told_ you, don’t swallow—”

Hongseok screamed and backed away. Shinwon yelled at him to shut up as he gave chase. Hongseok kept retreating, until the back of his knees knocked into a bench and he ended up sitting down. Seizing his chance, Shinwon jumped onto the bench and straddled Hongseok’s thighs, and placed his hands on his shoulders. Hongseok tried to swat him, and Shinwon countered by binding a tail around each wrist.

“Get off me—” said Hongseok through gritted teeth, as he writhed.

“Stop moving,” said Shinwon. “I have a solution.”

Hongseok stopped moving, but the rage in his eyes was intense.

“Oh, do you?” said Hongseok, his voice heavy with sarcasm.

“Yes, actually, I do.” Shinwon glanced around. He couldn’t see Hyunggu anywhere. “I need to kiss you one hundred times.”

“ _Fuck off_ ,” said Hongseok. Shinwon could feel his legs twitch, like he had tried to raise them.

“I’m serious.”

“You can fuck right off.”

“Ya! You think I want to do this?” Shinwon tightened his grip. Hongseok wriggled even harder. “I _had_ to kiss you to save your ass. If you hadn’t swallowed, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

“You didn’t warn me.”

“I did.”

“You’re not kissing me anymore.”

“I want my bead back—”

“You can have it.”

“—and I can’t have it unless I kiss you one hundred times.”

Hongseok looked up at him. There was more than murder in his eyes now; he looked like the only thing that would pacify him was if he had the chance to completely obliterate Shinwon.

“If that’s true, why do none of the legends mention it?” he said.

“All the heroes _want_ the fox bead. None of them ever demanded the gumiho to get it out of them.”

Hongseok narrowed his eyes, and stopped moving again. Shinwon relaxed his grip.

“How can I trust you?” said Hongseok.

Shinwon threw his head back and laughed. “I told you already, I don’t want to kiss you again. I don’t like doing things I don’t want to do.”

“If I let you kiss me one hundred times now—”

“Hold on, there’s some rules.” Shinwon waited for Hongseok to argue back. When he didn’t, he added, “It’s not cute, peck on the lips type kisses. My tongue has got to go into your mouth and stay there for at least five seconds, cause otherwise that bead is never going to find its way back to me.”

Hongseok shook his head. Shinwon sighed, and let go of his hands and head. He put his right foot down on the ground, and then swung his left leg over so that he could sit down next to him. He looked over his shoulder as he started to sit down, and then he sprung upright when he realised that the ghost of an elderly woman with a stern face was already sitting there, and looking up at him.

“I’m so sorry, ma’am,” he said, as he turned and bowed. “I won’t disturb you.”

He bowed again, and ran over to the other side of Hongseok. The latter eyed the space the lady occupied, and then he shuffled over, pressing up as close as he could to one side of the bench.

“Who—who did you just apologise to—?” said Hongseok.

“I almost sat on a lovely lady,” said Shinwon. The woman was staring straight ahead. “She’s looking at you. She’s _really_ checking you out right now, from head to toe.”

A tiny whimper left Hongseok’s mouth, and he seemed to shrink even more. If he wasn’t acting, then Shinwon reckoned Hongseok really hadn’t seen anything. He would’ve noticed the ghosts if he had managed to glimpse the land.

“Anyway, I obviously can’t force you to kiss me again,” continued Shinwon, “but if you keep my bead inside you, you’re going to start developing powers that you won’t want. The earlier I get it out, the earlier our lives are going to go back to normal.”

Hongseok just glared at him.

“At least let me give you my number. Then you can contact me direct when you change your mind.”

“You have a phone?” said Hongseok, in a voice full of surprise.

“Oh, I thought you’d gone dumb for a second.” Shinwon grinned, and then looked serious again when Hongseok didn’t respond. “Yes, of course I’ve got a phone.”

“How are you paying for it?”

Shinwon snorted. “I do have a bank account and money on hand, thank you very much.”

Hongseok glared, and Shinwon sighed as he took his phone out of his pocket. He unlocked it, and held it out. Although Hongseok took his phone, his whole facial expression screamed distrust as he entered his number into the phone. When he was finished, he held it out at arm’s length.

“It’s just a phone. It’s not going to kill you,” said Shinwon, as he took his phone back. The screen was still showing Hongseok’s number, and Shinwon rang it. As Hongseok took his own phone out, Shinwon gasped and commented, “Hey, isn’t that the new Samsung model? How did you manage to afford that?”

“Are you done?” said Hongseok, as he jumped to his feet. He hung up the call, and put his phone away. “I’ll call you if I need to.” Without waiting for an answer, he began to walk away.

“A thank you would be nice,” said Shinwon, as he trailed him. “Hey, you could at least say goodbye.”

Hongseok never responded, and nor did he ever look behind him. Shinwon followed him until he had stepped out of the park, before he turned around and began to search for a tree to settle under for the night. He had already done more than what his original promise entailed.

Shinwon settled by the roots of a rather large tree that was about halfway into the park. He transformed into his fox form, and lay curled up by the trunk, but he kept wriggling and rolling around. His throat felt dry and itchy without his bead; if he coughed, it offered a few seconds’ worth of relief before the dryness struck again. He tried contracting his neck muscles, but that just made his throat feel even emptier.

That night, all the creatures in the park could hear Shinwon barking and yelping, mourning the loss of his bead.

***

When Hongseok woke up the next morning, he decided that everything that had happened in the park last night was just a vivid nightmare.

Hongseok couldn’t fool himself for long, though. As he brushed his teeth, he could feel a lump in his throat. Whenever he swallowed, the lump seemed to disappear further down his oesophagus—but then it bounced back into his throat. He could feel it whenever he ate or drank, and whenever he talked as well.

The lump seemed to grow even bigger as he worked out at the gym. The first exercise he did was some pull-ups, but he was halfway through when he had to stop, as it felt like his airway was being cut off. He stumbled into the toilets, where he coughed and spluttered into the sink until the lump had gone down to its usual, mildly inconvenient size once again. He sighed into the sink, and then decided to return home.

Hongseok lived on the tenth and topmost floor of a cream-coloured block of flats that had been built near the end of the eighties. His flat was big enough to house a living room and a kitchen of a similar size, and had a total of two bedrooms. The first thing Hongseok did was to flop onto his bed, and he lay there while scrolling through his phone. He kept drawing up his contacts and staring at Shinwon’s number. The temptation to contact him was growing by the second. He didn’t want this stupid, irritating lump in his throat anymore—hell, no, he didn’t want to deal with anything magical at all, he just wanted to return to his mundane, ordinary human life again—

The thought of Shinwon kissing him one hundred times more, though, was enough to stop Hongseok. He shivered whenever he thought about their kiss; he could almost feel Shinwon’s wet tongue sliding over every corner in his mouth all over again. The thought became too much, and he dashed to the bathroom to rinse his mouth out five times over. When he came out, he noticed that Wooseok had messaged him, asking if he was free to meet him at a café at two. Hongseok agreed, and he left his flat with plenty of time to spare.

When he arrived, he spotted Wooseok already sitting at a table and waiting for him. The queue to the counter only had three people. Hongseok waited behind a lady who had a tabby cat sitting in her handbag, but he noticed how the cat kept staring at him. Its yellow eyes sparkled in a way that suggested it was actually a familiar. Without a word, the cat pounced, and Hongseok caught it in his arms—and then he started when the cat licked his Adam’s apple, and he could feel Shinwon’s bead bobbing up and down.

“Iseul, no,” said the lady, as she turned around. “Iseul, come back.” When the cat ignored her, she clicked her tongue rhythmically, and it was only then that the familiar resumed its place inside the handbag.

Hongseok looked at the lady. Her face was sheepish, but her glare was soft, and there was something odd about the way she was smiling at him. She looked up at his forehead, and then she slowly glanced down to his chin before meeting his eyes once again.

“I’m so sorry,” she said, “Iseul’s normally very well behaved.”

“It’s okay, miss,” said Hongseok. “Your … your cat’s very cute.”

“Thank you. Are you on your own?”

Hongseok shook his head. “My friend’s waiting for me.”

The lady nodded. She hovered her hand over her handbag, and a business card shot up into her palm.

“I’m heading back to my shop,” she said, as she handed the card over. Hongseok took it, and noted the words ‘Yerin’s Apothecary’ written in embossed, silver letters. “If you need any potions, medicines, or if you want to grab a coffee with me, feel free to come to my place. It’s just around the corner from here.”

“Thank you, miss.” Hongseok tucked the card away into his back pocket as she turned around, and stepped up to the counter to place her order. It was only then that he realised what she had just said to him, and he flushed. Well, this was the first time someone had tried to hit on him while in a queue for some coffee. When she left, she smiled at Hongseok, and he smiled back. He placed his order; and unless he was hallucinating, he was sure the barista was giving him the exact same smile as the lady. He kept his head down when his order was completed, and he navigated past several tables to reach Wooseok.

“What happened with the cat?” he heard Wooseok ask.

“I don’t know,” said Hongseok, as he sat down. “It kept staring, and then it just leapt at me.”

He waited for Wooseok to make a comment, or at the very least squeal in delight, or groan that things like that never happened to him. When he didn’t hear anything, he looked up, and started. Wooseok was staring at him with his mouth slightly open, but he had a glazed over look in his eyes.

“Wooseok?” said Hongseok.

“Have you done something to your hair?” said Wooseok.

“…No…”

“It looks different.”

“Thanks?” Hongseok pushed his chair back a little.

“It looks nice on you.”

Wooseok smiled, and then he leaned in with his eyes half-closed. Hongseok gasped as he shoved his shoulders, forcing him back into his seat. The moment Wooseok landed, his eyes widened, and he clasped a hand over his mouth. Hongseok could tell from his stare that he had come to his senses, and his cheeks were reddening.

“Did you just…?” said Hongseok.

“I’m so sorry,” said Wooseok. “I didn’t—I didn’t mean to—I—Yuto’s going to—oh god—”

“You wanted to … kiss me?” Hongseok raised his drink to his lips, and took a sip. As the coffee slid down his throat, he winced as he felt the lump move too.

“I don’t know.” Wooseok shrunk into his seat as he ran his hands over his face, and then stabbed his fingers through his hair. “I just thought you looked different, and then I _really_ wanted to kiss you, and—hyung, what happened last night?”

Hongseok also shrunk into his seat. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Hyung.” Wooseok pouted. “Nobody’s told me anything. Yuto said that Shinwon said something happened last night, but he wouldn’t say what, so Yuto asked me to ask you. Hyung…”

Hongseok wanted to slide under the table. He wanted to just deny it all, but he could feel the lump again, and he started when it felt like it had expanded again.

“He kissed me,” said Hongseok, without looking at Wooseok. “We saw this other gumiho and Shinwon kissed me and I swallowed his fucking bead and I’ve got his stupid thing stuck in my throat and I just want to live my life like normal again but everyone’s hitting on me today and I _hate_ it.”

“Oh my god—” said Wooseok. Hongseok felt him grab his hands. “You swallowed a fox bead? Did you look at the land, sky, or people?”

“I didn’t do any of that.”

Wooseok huffed. “That sucks. You could’ve got a superpower.”

Hongseok looked up with wide eyes. “That’s a _blessing_ ,” he said. “I don’t care about the secrets of heaven or earth.”

“Hyung, you had one chance—”

“I said I’m not interested. I just want this bloody thing out of me.” Hongseok felt Wooseok stroke his knuckles.

“I thought gumihos can’t take their beads back.”

“That’s what I thought as well, but he said it was possible.”

“That’s great.”

Hongseok shook his head. “He has to kiss me again.”

“If it’s only kissing—”

“One’s more than enough. He’s not coming near me again."

“It’s only one hundred kisses, hyung. That’s not loads.”

“Oh my _god_ , Wooseok, just _one_ is too much—” Hongseok stopped, and he clenched Wooseok’s hands as he frowned. At the same time, Wooseok’s eyes began to tremble. “How did you know about the one hundred kisses?”

“I—I just—I—” Wooseok whimpered. “My hands—”

Hongseok loosened his grip. “Wooseok…”

“I know from the legends. The kissing thing.”

“Which one?” Hongseok narrowed his eyes.

“The … one with … the … groom and his … bride…”

“Which one?”

“Oh, you know, _that_ one.”

“There’s about twenty of those. Which one?”

Wooseok forced a chuckle. “You _know_ which one.”

“Which. One?”

Wooseok wriggled his hands out of Hongseok’s.

“Please don’t get mad at me,” he said.

Hongseok leaned in closer. “Who told you about the kisses?”

“Shinwon.” Wooseok was backing as far as he could into his chair. “He told me you’d swallowed his bead, but he didn’t say why. He really wants his bead back.”

Hongseok just sighed, and then put his head down on the table. He couldn’t even find the words to argue back. He didn’t move when he felt Wooseok put a hand on his shoulder.

“Yuto really looks up to Shinwon,” said Wooseok. “He’s told me before that Shinwon’s done a lot of things for him ever since the first time they met. If Yuto trusts him so much, I’m sure he can’t be that bad.”

“You _know_ how I feel about … about his type.”

“I think it was the bead that affected me earlier.”

Hongseok groaned. Shinwon had warned him about this. As much as he never wanted to see the gumiho again, he didn’t exactly fancy being hit upon by every person he encountered. Wooseok had managed to stop himself before anything could happen, but what if they’d met when the bead’s powers were much stronger?

“Did Shinwon tell you to meet me?” said Hongseok, as he lifted his head off the table. He reached into his pocket for his phone.

Wooseok nodded. “He only did it because he wanted you to speak to him.”

Hongseok sighed as he scrolled through his contacts. He dialled Shinwon’s number, and pressed the phone to his ear.

Shinwon answered within a few rings. “Have you come to your senses at last?”

“A hello would be nice,” said Hongseok. He ran his hand over his face.

“I’m still waiting for your goodbye from last night.”

“Meet me at my flat. Can you make it for four?”

Shinwon sighed. “Finally. Yes, four’s okay. Where do you live?”

“Is Yuto with you?”

“He is.”

“Ask him. He knows.” Hongseok pulled his phone away and hung up.

“You don’t even say goodbye to Shinwon?” said Wooseok. His eyes were wide, but it was out of curiosity, not fear.

Hongseok scowled as he put his phone away. “I’m sick of talking about him.”

Wooseok changed the subject straightaway. Hongseok chatted and chatted, drawing out the time for as long as he could before he had to leave. He dragged his feet during the walk back home; and he arrived late enough that when he emerged from the lift, he saw Shinwon coughing and waiting outside his flat.

Shinwon had a face like thunder, and all his tails were standing upright. Hongseok tried to ignore it as he unlocked his front door.

“Do you have to live here?” said Shinwon.

“It’s cheap,” said Hongseok. “It’s the only place I can afford.”

“This whole building’s ugly. They should’ve razed it to the ground when they had that chance in ‘96.”

Hongseok turned the lock, and entered his flat first. He closed the door behind Shinwon; and as he was taking off his shoes, he heard the gumiho say—

“What an ugly flat.”

“I didn’t invite you in to insult my home,” said Hongseok through gritted teeth. Shinwon snarled, but said nothing in response. “I want to get those kisses out the way.”

“Well, I can certainly do that,” said Shinwon, as he walked into the living room. Hongseok followed him. “How do you want them?”

“What do you mean?”

Hongseok sat down on the sofa. Shinwon glanced around the room, and then sat down, cross-legged, on the floor opposite Hongseok. His whole face was crinkled in disgust.

“We _could_ kiss one hundred times in a row, and then I’m out of your life for good,” said Shinwon, “but we’ve got to stay touching for at least five seconds, and frankly speaking, I’d rather eat my own tail than do that.” He looked over to his leftmost tail, which had started to waggle around like it was afraid, and he sighed and shook his head.

“I just want to get this over with,” said Hongseok.

“It’s nice you want to save my tail, but are you sure you want to do that? One hundred kisses, no breaks, my tongue constantly in your mouth—it really stinks, by the way, what have you been drinking?—”

Hongseok pulled a face. The lump in his throat seemed to move higher up. Shinwon was right; one hundred in one sitting was too much.

“What are the other options?”

Shinwon’s tails began to lower. “Well, there’s two choices, actually. We kiss once per day, but that’s going to take three and a half months. Or, we kiss twice each day, and we’ll be done in under two.”

Hongseok flopped into the back of the sofa, and covered his face with his hands.

“Obviously, you don’t have to do anything. You could be mean and keep my bead, and it’s not like the powers you’ll get are uncontrollable, but since you’re not a wizard, I think you’ll be able to master those powers at … ooooh, 75, 80 years old, earliest.”

Hongseok peered at Shinwon through a crack in his fingers. “You knew Wooseok would try to kiss me, didn’t you?”

Shinwon barked. Hongseok started at how much he sounded like a fox.

“It had to be done,” said Shinwon. “I had to show you what would happen.”

“This has got nothing to do with him. If you wanted to change my mind, you should have talked to me directly.”

“If I’d done that, you would’ve shut me down.”

“Er, no, I wouldn’t.”

“I tried to persuade you at the park.”

“Yeah, well, you should’ve tried harder.”

“Excuse _you_ , talking to you was like talking to a brick wall.” Shinwon tutted. “You wonder why I don’t like humans.”

Hongseok sprung upright, but then he felt the lump expand immediately. He turned to the side, at first just spluttering, but then he started to cough as well as his breathing became irregular. He shut his eyes, which only seemed to inflame the lump. Then he sensed Shinwon sit down next to him, and his tails began to run up and down his back, and all around his neck.

“Calm down,” he heard Shinwon say, in a firm tone, “don’t get nervous. Calm down, kid.”

Hongseok relaxed into the touch of the tails. He could breathe steady again, but he still gasped and drew in deep breaths.

“Why does it do that?” he said, as he felt the lump continue to shrink.

“My bead’s just as nervous as you are,” said Shinwon. His tails were still stroking Hongseok. “It likes being with _me_ , not _you_. It knows you’re scared, so it gets scared and swells up.”

Hongseok spluttered. “You mean it’s going to kill me?”

Shinwon looked uncertain. Hongseok could feel his blood racing; out of all the answers he could possibly give, this was the worst one.

“I don’t think it should,” said Shinwon. “My bead has absorbed so much human energy in the past that it does understand emotions. I’m sure it will realise that killing you means it won’t be able to come back to me, so while it _will_ make you go blue in the face, I think it’ll stop before it actually kills you.”

Hongseok winced. Knowing that the bead was sentient to a minor degree, and capable of almost killing him, was even worse. Now that the lump had gone down, Hongseok shook off Shinwon’s tails as he turned around, and sat upright again.

“Fine, I’ll kiss you,” he said. “I’ll do it twice a day.”

Shinwon licked his bottom lip. Hongseok instantly regretted agreeing with him so soon.

“I’m not having a great time either,” said Shinwon. “I miss my bead so much. How do you humans put up with … with … _nothing_ in your throats?”

“That’s _normal_. You’re not supposed to have something stuck down there all day long.”

Shinwon shook his head. “You’re so weird.”

“So are you.”

“Come on, let’s get this over with,” said Shinwon, and he leaned in, his lips puckered. Hongseok got up and ran to the other end of the sofa.

“No. No. Absolutely not,” he said. He glanced around the room, and almost cussed when he realised that he was nowhere near anything long enough to hold Shinwon at bay.

“You said you wanted two kisses a day,” said Shinwon. “I thought I’d get one out of the way now.”

Hongseok put a hand over his mouth. “I need time to process what the hell I’ve just agreed to. I want rules in place.”

Shinwon sighed. “We’ll do one in the morning, one in the evening, and we’ll start with one tonight. Is that tolerable enough?”

Hongseok huffed. “It’ll have to do.” He stood up. “I’ve got stuff I need to get on with. Come back at ten.”

Shinwon looked horrified as he also stood up. “No way. I’m not leaving this flat. How do I know you’re going to let me in again, or if you’re going to run away after this?”

“Do you really think I’m going to do any of those things?”

“I don’t know, you humans behave weirdly all the time.”

Hongseok threw his hands into the air. “Fine, be my guest. Just leave me alone.”

He entered his bedroom, and slammed the door shut. He flopped onto his bed, and whinged into his sheets. What had he done wrong to deserve this? Hongseok had always kept his promise to Wooseok that he’d try this best to like Yuto. He’d already tried for over one hundred days. Just because he liked one nine-tailed fox a little bit better, it didn’t mean that he had to befriend every single one that came along.

Hongseok rolled over onto his back to check his phone. He had a few unread messages in the group chat, and they had all come from Jinho and Hwitaek, who had found out about his situation with Shinwon. Since he had nothing better to do, he phoned Jinho and just ranted. Hwitaek was with Jinho when he called, but the only advice they gave was that Hongseok should kiss Shinwon. They both praised Shinwon’s handsomeness quite a few times, and they kept telling Hongseok to keep an open mind.

“Are you trying to hook me up with him?” said Hongseok.

Jinho sighed and said, “Honk, you’ve been single for too long.”

“Three years isn’t long.”

“You’ve been single for as long as we’ve been dating. You shouldn’t reject Shinwon just because he’s a gumiho. Look how happy Wooseok-ie is with Yuto—”

“That’s not a fair comparison.” Hongseok didn’t mean to snap down the phone, but it did the trick; Hwitaek took over the call, and diverted his attention with another topic.

Hongseok was tempted to call Wooseok afterwards, but when he glanced at the time, he started when he realised it was close to seven. He left his room, and as he passed by the living room, he heard Shinwon call out—

“I thought you said you were busy.”

“I am,” said Hongseok, as he walked into the kitchen. “I’m hungry—”

Shinwon appeared by the doorway, and crossed his arms. “It sounded like you were having a natter with those two shorties.”

Hongseok spun around. “That’s private,” he said, “you shouldn’t eavesdrop.”

“I wasn’t. You shouldn’t have been talking so loudly.”

Hongseok gawped. “I had my door closed. You were in the living room.”

“Humans have the worst hearing on this planet, yet you lot always think you’ve got the best. If you wanted privacy, you should’ve kept your voice down.”

“Are you done insulting my species yet?” said Hongseok, as he went to open the fridge. Neither of them said anything as he took out some vegetables.

“Do you need those eggs?” said Shinwon, just as Hongseok was about to close the door. “I’ll pay you back for all six.”

“Do you want to eat them?”

“I’m hungry as well.”

Hongseok sighed, and then took out all the eggs. They were the remains of a two-dozen box of eggs that he’d bought over a week ago, and since he’d left it so long, he’d been considering throwing them in the bin anyway.

“Just take them,” said Hongseok. He watched Shinwon wrap one tail around each egg. “How are you going to cook them?”

“Cook?” Shinwon repeated. He sounded disgusted. “Are you kidding me?”

Shinwon struck one tail on the edge of the counter. There was a crunch, and then he raised the cracked egg above his open mouth. He prised the shell open, and the yolk dropped straight into his mouth, followed by a trail of egg whites. Hongseok just watched him, gaping,

“What?” said Shinwon.

“Did you just _swallow_ that?” Hongseok winced when he watched Shinwon lick his lips.

“I am a fox. I only eat raw food.”

“Can you not do that here? I want to cook.”

“Do you have any apples, by the way?” said Shinwon, as he lifted up the remaining eggs. Hongseok pointed at a cupboard to his right, and then he reached over to grab a frying pan. By the time he had washed and set the pan on the stove, and turned the heat on, Shinwon had left the kitchen.

Hongseok entered the living room once he had finished cooking, which was where he found Shinwon already sitting on one of the sofas, with a pile of egg shells and an apple core on the table. The day had gone on long enough that Hongseok couldn’t muster any more energy to get mad. Instead, he sighed as loudly and as pointedly as he could, and he sat down and started to eat his dinner.

“You should really do something to the place,” said Shinwon. He looked up at the ceiling. “It’d make living here more … tolerable, I guess.”

Hongseok shushed him, and then turned on the TV. He didn’t actually pay that much attention to the programme; he just wanted something that would drown out Shinwon’s voice. To his surprise, Shinwon sat still and watched the TV with a very focused stare. Maybe this was what he needed to do—if he just left the TV on until he went to bed, then maybe they wouldn’t have to kiss that evening—

“Are you usually such a slow eater?” said Shinwon, about an hour later. He didn’t look away from the TV. 

“So? What if I am?” said Hongseok. It was true that he was taking smaller bites than usual, but Shinwon didn’t know that.

“It’s almost like you want to keep my bead.”

Hongseok narrowed his eyes as he took another bite.

“We’ve got to start at some point,” said Shinwon. He tilted his head back a little, and eyed Hongseok. “There’s no use dragging it out like this.”

“I’m not dragging anything out,” said Hongseok, and he shoved a larger portion into his mouth.

The damage was done, though; Shinwon ditched the TV in favour of commentating on every bite Hongseok made. The latter said nothing as he finished eating, and he maintained his silence as he went to wash the dishes. Shinwon followed him into the kitchen, at which point, it became necessary to argue that yes, Hongseok liked to wash everything four times over, and not because he wanted to stall for time.

Hongseok knew his luck would only carry him so far—and it ran out when he tried to leave the kitchen. What he should have done was wait for Shinwon to move when he asked; instead, he kept walking, thinking that Shinwon would move, and he ended up bumping into him. At this point, he was close enough for the gumiho to wrap all his tails around him, and he was pulled in even closer until their bodies were flush against each other. Hongseok placed his hands on Shinwon’s shoulders, like it would stop him from getting too close.

“You can make this easier for both of us,” said Shinwon. “Just keep your mouth open, and don’t flinch.” Hongseok’s reaction was to purse his lips together. He caught Shinwon roll his eyes, a second before he leaned in and their mouths touched.

Hongseok screwed his eyes shut, and then started to stomp on the floor when Shinwon’s tongue force his lips apart, and dart into his mouth. He slapped Shinwon’s shoulders as he felt his tongue loll around, licking him everywhere, just like last night. Tonight, though, his tongue was slimier and wetter, and he was close to gagging when he remembered that Shinwon had consumed six raw eggs. The lump in his throat twitched—and then Shinwon drew back, and Hongseok gasped for air as he pushed the gumiho away.

He felt the tails slide off him just as he was shaking them off anyway, and he pushed past Shinwon and ran into the bathroom. Hongseok rinsed his mouth out three times before his mouth started to feel a little more normal again, and it took a further three rinses before he could leave the bathroom.

Hongseok didn’t want to enter the kitchen again, but he could hear the tap running. He poked his head in, and saw Shinwon bent over the sink, lapping up the jet of water with his tongue and then spitting into the basin. His whole mouth was shiny and wet, and there were drops of water dribbling off his chin and the tip of his nose. A few splashes adorned his cheeks too.

“There’s an easier way to rinse your mouth out,” said Hongseok. He was only intervening to stop Shinwon from driving up his water bill.

Shinwon stood up, and turned the tap off. He wiped his face with two tails as he turned around to face Hongseok.

“I am _never_ kissing you again so soon after eating,” he said. His eyes were closed, and there were wrinkles gathered around the corners and the bridge of his nose. “Why do you lot like oil so much?”

“Why do _you_ like raw eggs?”

“That’s _natural_. Oil isn’t.”

“If I don’t use oil, my dinner’s going to stick to the pan.”

Shinwon shook his head as he opened his eyes again, and mumbled something about humans. Hongseok decided not to listen.

“I wanted to rinse my mouth out with a cup,” said Shinwon, “but I didn’t know which one to use.”

Hongseok stared. Somehow, he had expected Shinwon to grab the first cup he could spot, rather than opt to twist around the sink at a funny angle to get water into his mouth. He pointed to the cupboard nearest to the sink.

“There’s some tumblers in there,” he said, “you can use those.”

“I’ll do that next time. What time are we kissing tomorrow?”

“I’ve got work, and I need to be out of here by eight, so if you come back tomorrow at around half seven, that should work with me.”

Shinwon blinked. “I don’t understand.”

Hongseok frowned. “We’ll kiss at half seven tomorrow.”

“I get that bit, but what do you mean by ‘come back tomorrow’?”

“If you—” Hongseok’s eyes widened, and he began to back out of the kitchen. He pointed a finger at Shinwon. “No, no, no, no, _no_. I only let you stay this long because you were scared I’d do a runner. I’ve already kissed you once, I’m not going to stop _now_.”

“You’ve got to let me stay,” said Shinwon, as he approached him. “Please.”

“No. This is _my_ home.”

“I don’t have anywhere to go.”

Hongseok passed under the doorway, and bumped into the wall of the corridor. He kept pointing, and Shinwon stopped walking when he came up to the door.

“You can’t be homeless,” said Hongseok. “You didn’t follow me home last night. You must’ve gone somewhere.”

“I sleep in the park, but I—I’d rather stay _here_ than—than go back.”

“Why not?”

Shinwon didn’t look at him as he answered, “I don’t want _him_ to know I’ve lost my bead.”

“Who?” Hongseok thought back to last night, just before Shinwon had kissed him. “The gumiho we ran into?”

“Yeah, him.”

Hongseok cocked his head. “What’s up with you and him anyway?”

“I’d rather not talk about it.” Shinwon hung his head. “You don’t need to lay out your best satin sheets for me. I don’t like sleeping in this form. I’ll just curl up on the floor of your living room.”

Hongseok lowered his hand. The idea of throwing Shinwon out to the park, and potentially leaving him at the mercy of a nastier gumiho, was too cruel for him to even consider carrying out—but the thought of letting him stay in his flat, sleeping on the living room, wasn’t filling with him with joy. He sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose. Well, it wasn’t like everything was going the way he wanted it to, not when he considered he had ninety-nine kisses left to go, and a bead in his throat that choked him whenever he—or it, apparently—got nervous.

“Are you sure you don’t want to sleep on a bed?” he said.

“I sleep on the ground anyway.”

“That’s your choice. Don’t start complaining to me if you wake up with a bad back.”

Shinwon looked up. His eyes were wide. “You’re letting me stay?” he said, his tone incredulous.

“I thought that was what you wanted.”

“I—yes, it was—”

Hongseok faked a yawn. “I need to go to bed, I’ve got to wake up early.”

Shinwon’s mouth dropped open, like he couldn’t believe he was being allowed to stay. Hongseok walked off to the bathroom. Just because they weren’t that friendly to each other, it didn’t mean that he was a bastard inside. He was nice to Wooseok and Jinho and Hwitaek, and he was trying his best to like Yuto.

Hongseok didn’t bother checking up on Shinwon when he went to his bedroom. He locked the door just in case, and then settled down into his bed. He rolled around for a while, and had almost forgotten that Shinwon was now living in the flat too until he heard a whimper, sometime later. By that point, though, Hongseok was on the verge of falling asleep proper; and he slept on.


	2. I thought you didn't want my life story

Shinwon’s second night without his bead wasn’t any better. While he didn’t howl like before, he still rolled around on the floor and tried to hack up a coughing fit, like it would somehow soothe the emptiness in his throat. It didn’t help that he missed sleeping on top of soft grass and soil; the wooden flooring was hard but just about bearable, although he did briefly consider trudging to the spare bedroom and sleeping on the bed in his human form.

At least Hongseok kept to his word the next morning, even if he did try to jerk his body away from Shinwon’s when he wrapped his tails around him. Hongseok shut his eyes but his mouth remained closed, leaving it up to Shinwon again to push his lips apart with his tongue. He yelped when Hongseok stomped on his foot, and he scrunched up his face whenever his tongue tasted remnants of milk and half-soggy cereal stuck in the tinniest gaps between Hongseok’s teeth.

“Brush your teeth,” said Hongseok, once they parted. He stuck his tongue out.

Shinwon snorted. “ _You_ need to brush your teeth,” he said. Great, he could taste milk in his mouth now. “I don’t need to. I don’t eat any of that processed junk you call food.”

Hongseok mumbled something as he walked out of the room, and Shinwon heard him shut the bathroom door. He heard the tap run, followed by the gentler sounds of bristles running across teeth. By the time Hongseok was spitting, Shinwon had moved into the kitchen to rinse his mouth out with a tumbler, just like he had been told last night.

When Shinwon poked his head out of the kitchen doorway, he saw Hongseok by the front door. He now had a rucksack on his back, and he was busy slipping on his shoes.

“Are you going to work?” said Shinwon.

“Yeah,” said Hongseok. “I won’t be back ‘til about six, maybe half six tonight.”

“Have you got a spare key for the flat?”

Hongseok frowned at him. “What do you need one for?”

“I’m not going to sit around waiting for you all day. What am I, your pet?”

“You were the one who didn’t want to leave last night—”

“That’s a different thing.”

Hongseok groaned, and then ran back into his bedroom. Shinwon could just about hear him opening and closing a drawer, before he re-emerged seconds later with a key in his hand. When he was near enough, he chucked it at Shinwon, who caught it with a tail.

“Now can I go?” said Hongseok, as he started to unlock the front door.

“Stay safe,” said Shinwon, and he blew an air kiss at Hongseok. The latter just glared as he undid the last lock, and then he was out of the house.

Shinwon wasn’t meeting Yuto until two hours later, so he whiled away the time in the flat. He paced around, trying to get used to the place that he would be calling home for the next two months; but every time he thought about that large group of burly men cutting down his special tree, and the diggers that followed to uproot the stump, it made him want to leave. How irritating that the one building he’d hated for so long was the very place where the human who had swallowed his bead was living in.

When it was time to leave, Shinwon ran out of the building. He made his way to the park, but slowed down when he walked through one entrance. Just because Hyunggu preferred to roam around at night, when it was easier to catch out humans, it didn’t mean that he always spent the day sleeping. He had encountered him before at the crack of dawn, and at midday, and at half four in the afternoon. Shinwon twitched his ears and sniffed the air. As far as he could tell, there were no traces of Hyunggu. He stayed alert as he walked through, following the path as it meandered around to the middle, where Yuto was already sat on a bench and waiting.

“Yuto-ya,” said Shinwon, when he was close enough. The kitsune smiled at him, and he sat down to his right. “I’m so glad to see you.”

Yuto chuckled. “Me too, hyung.”

“I’m a little pissed with you. You could’ve warned me.”

Yuto frowned. “Warn you about what?”

“Hongseok’s living in that bloody block of flats,” said Shinwon, his face full of exasperation. “You know, the short cream one.”

“What’s wrong with it?”

Shinwon turned to him, his mouth agape. “You’re joking, right? Our special tree used to stand there. Humans cut it down to build up that mess.”

Yuto looked even more lost. “What tree?”

“The tree where I first found you.”

There was a flicker of recognition on Yuto’s face, before his expression soured. “I don’t remember anything from then,” he said.

“I know, I don’t either. I only remember the good things.”

“What was good about it?”

“Meeting you. That’s all I remember.”

Shinwon smiled at Yuto, and he flicked one tail in his direction. The tip brushed the end of Yuto’s rightmost tail, and the two intertwined.

“Yuto-ya, you’re so lucky you don’t have a fox bead,” said Shinwon. He tilted his head back, and stuck his tongue out. His throat felt even more empty. “I miss it so much.”

“Has Hongseok agreed to kiss you?”

“Yeah, but we’ve still got 98 kisses to go.” Shinwon ran his hands over his face. “I know it’s better than nothing, but—”

“Human got your bead?”

Shinwon sprung to his feet the moment he heard Hyunggu’s voice. Next to him, Yuto hissed. Hyunggu was standing a short distance away from them, but Shinwon could still see his bead on his tongue. This time, it was perched so far forward that it looked ready to drop out at any second.

“What if he has?” said Shinwon. “At least he has a sense of responsibility, unlike some beings.”

“ _Aigoo_ ,” said Hyunggu. Shinwon swore his mouth was moving in an exaggerated manner, like he wanted to show off his bead as much as possible. “You must be so devastated. I know you love your bead.”

Shinwon raised his eight free tails. “Your point is?” he said.

Hyunggu raised his eyebrows as he glanced over all the tails. “What are you going to do, fight me?” he said, as he too spread out his tails. “Don’t forget, Yuto can’t help you anymore.”

The thought of fighting hadn’t once crossed Shinwon’s mind. He was just trying to look intimidating. The fact that Hyunggu actually thought he would stoop that low, however, was enough to make his blood boil; how dare he thought he was such a scoundrel. Shinwon retorted by snarling.

“I’m busy talking to Yuto,” he said. “If you have nothing interesting to say to us, go away.”

“I know when I’m not wanted.” Hyunggu licked his front teeth, and Shinwon had to put up with watching his bead roll backwards into his mouth. Hyunggu cheerfully hummed as he turned away, but Shinwon didn’t move as he watched the gumiho disappear elsewhere into the park.

“Why is he like that?” said Yuto, in a small voice.

Shinwon huffed as he sat down again. “I want to find out as well,” he said. “At least Hongseok’s safe from him for now.” No gumiho was stupid enough to kiss a human who already had a bead in their throat.

“Two months isn’t a long time, hyung.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“It could have been worse. At least Hongseok’s really nice.”

“Nice?” Shinwon looked at Yuto, horrified. “Yuto-ya, he _hates_ us. How can you say he’s nice?”

“He’s never been angry with me.”

“That doesn’t make him a saint.”

“I just said he was nice.”

“I really wanted to hand him over to Hyunggu, you know. The only reason I didn’t was because I’d promised you that I’d keep him safe, so this is all your fault.”

Yuto pouted. “I never said you had to kiss him. I only wanted him to stay safe.”

“I _had_ to kiss him to stay safe, so—” Shinwon stopped, as he realised the contradictions in his argument, and he groaned. “Did you know he had the nerve to complain about me eating raw eggs? His whole mouth was oily and wet, and he thought I was the weird one.”

“Is that your only complaint?”

“ _No_. He lives in a stupid flat and he has a stupid haircut and he _snores_. I thought I was going to go deaf during the night. Oh, and he tried to make me brush my teeth. Everything he eats is unnatural, and he thinks _my_ breath smells more?”

Yuto’s expression was a mixture of amusement and concern. “These are all fairly minor things.”

“How can you take his side?” said Shinwon.

Yuto tugged Shinwon’s tail before he shuffled up closer. Shinwon put an arm around his shoulders, and he wrapped his tails around them both, cocooning them in soft, red furs.

“We haven’t hung out as much ever since I got together with Wooseok-ie,” said Yuto, “and I think that you’ve been very lonely for the last hundred days. At least Hongseok can keep you company.”

Shinwon made a face. “I’d rather be lonely than have his company.”

“You take that back, hyung.”

“I never go back on my word.”

“Take it back, for me. For my sake.”

Shinwon rolled his eyes. “I am fed up of Hongseok,” he said. “Can we please have a conversation that doesn’t involve him?”

Yuto nodded. For the rest of their meeting, they really did manage to avoid mentioning Hongseok. It helped that Shinwon could tease Yuto about Wooseok, and he baulked in horror as Yuto described all the new foodstuffs he was starting to like, and how used he was now to sleeping in a bed.

Yuto needed to go to the supermarket, and Shinwon accompanied him. Yuto filled up his cart with frozen ready meals, fresh vegetables, and snacks; Shinwon’s basket was made up of a two-dozen box of eggs, apples, bananas, and two packs of blackberries. When Shinwon returned to Hongseok’s flat, the first thing he did was to put all the eggs and blackberries in the fridge, and he stuffed the apples and bananas in a cupboard.

Shinwon was watching TV when he heard Hongseok return. He didn’t bother getting up, or mute or lower the volume of the TV. Despite this, he could still hear footsteps from outside, and then Shinwon’s ears pricked when he realised that Hongseok had entered the room.

“I need this bead out of me,” said Hongseok.

Shinwon turned around. Hongseok’s face was pale, and there was a nervousness in his eyes.

“Bad day at work?” said Shinwon, even though he had a feeling he knew what the answer would be.

“Hwanwoong from accounts tried to kiss me. He actually pushed me up to the wall and tried to kiss me.”

“Lucky you, getting all this attention. I never had people throwing themselves at me left, right, and center.”

Hongseok shook his head. “Youngjo managed to get Hwanwoong off me, but then I saw how he was looking really oddly at me, and I had to leg it. I can’t avoid the accounts department forever.”

“Look on the bright side, at least you’ve got options again. You can easily pick up your first boyfriend in three years.”

Hongseok’s eyes widened, and he coughed. Shinwon looked at his neck; from what he could see, his bead was still normal sized.

“I—that’s personal—” said Hongseok.

Shinwon shrugged. “I heard that from the shorties.”

“One, they’re called Jinho and Hwitaek. Two, I don’t need your help. I can find my own boyfriend, thanks.”

“One, I don’t care what they’re called, I’m never going to see them again. Two, I’m not helping you, my bead is. You’re slowly picking up all of my powers, and frankly, you should be happy. My bead is making it easy for you to get the guy you want.”

Hongseok’s face darkened. The furious glint that Shinwon was getting used to had returned. “I don’t want to use your powers,” he said. “I don’t want a shallow relationship.”

Shinwon shook his head. “Stop being so bullheaded, kid. People _are_ shallow. Do you know how many good-looking guys and gals have affairs with each other? You can have the purest personality in the whole world, but if you look as ugly as a pig, then good luck.”

Hongseok gritted his teeth. “I’m _not_ bullheaded—”

“I can’t believe you don’t want something that is actually helping you.”

“It’s not helping.” Hongseok threw his hands into the air.

“Look, the quickest way to get my bead out of you is if we kiss 98 times in a row, right now. Before you complain, I hate the idea as much as you do.”

Hongseok looked like he wanted to say something back, but then he shook his head.

“I thought you wouldn’t want to go through with it,” said Shinwon. “We could bump up the kisses each day. If we do four each day, we’ll be finished in under a month.”

“That’s still too much,” was all Hongseok said, before he walked out of the room.

Shinwon turned to the TV again. He heard doors opened and shut as Hongseok moved between his bedroom and the bathroom. He heard him turn on the shower, but Shinwon remained where he was, even after Hongseok was finished and walked into the kitchen. Shinwon registered the soft click of the fridge door opening, before it shut with an even quieter noise a few seconds later, and then—

“Did you go shopping today?” Hongseok called from the kitchen.

“You need eggs, I need eggs, so I bought some,” said Shinwon.

“I already said you didn’t need to pay me back for yesterday’s eggs.”

“I’m not a charity.”

“You don’t even live here.”

“Uh, yes, I do. I’m staying here for the next two months.”

Footsteps plodded from the kitchen, and Shinwon turned around in time to see Hongseok walk into the room. He was dressed in a vest and shorts, but the sides of the vest had been cut low enough for Shinwon to get an unblocked view of Hongseok’s armpits and the side of his body. He always targeted lanky, average people since they were easier to seduce, so to end up living with someone built up like Hongseok was fascinating.

“You said you didn’t want to see whatever that gumiho’s name was,” said Hongseok. Shinwon nodded, not really paying attention to what he was saying. “That’s the only reason I’m letting you stay here.”

“Uh-huh,” said Shinwon.

“I don’t need you to buy food,” Hongseok continued. Shinwon nodded. “If you only want eggs and some fruit, I can buy that.” Shinwon nodded again, and Hongseok frowned. “Are you even listening to me?”

“I’m taking everything in.”

Hongseok crossed his arms, which flexed his biceps even more. Shinwon licked his lower teeth.

“You don’t look like you are.”

“Oh yes I am.”

“You’re not looking at—” Hongseok started, before his face flushed as he seemed to realise what had caught Shinwon’s attention. He raised his arms up to his chest as he shuffled backwards out of the room, and then sidestepped until most of his body was behind the wall.

“Stop it,” he said, “don’t make this weird.”

“What?” said Shinwon. “You worked hard for those muscles.”

“Don’t say that.”

Shinwon kneeled on the sofa, and grabbed the back to prop himself up. “Why not?” he said. He lifted his tails, and wagged them. “Is it because I’m kissing you?” 

Hongseok made a garbled noise as he dashed out of sight. A little while later, he reappeared, now wearing jeans and a jacket that had been zipped all the way up to his neck. Shinwon wolf-whistled at him anyway, and he almost fell over laughing at the look Hongseok shot him.

“There’s no point covering up,” said Shinwon, as he watched Hongseok walk away. “I know what you look like underneath that.”

Shinwon stayed in the living room until Hongseok came in, now holding his dinner. It was only then that Shinwon left for the kitchen, and he opened the fridge to discover that two eggs had been used. He smirked as he took out six eggs and one pack of blackberries, and he remained in the kitchen as he ate his dinner.

The third kiss didn’t take place until almost half ten in the evening, after they both felt that they had left enough time for them to process their dinners. Shinwon had wanted to get their kiss out of the way thirty minutes earlier, but Hongseok insisted on brushing his teeth first; and although Shinwon was sure Hongseok was actually wasting time away in his bedroom, when he eventually showed up, Shinwon instantly wrapped him up in his tails and kissed him.

Hongseok still squirmed and stomped on the floor, but at least he had gone from whacking Shinwon with his hands to keeping them still on his shoulders and clenching, hard. Shinwon, however, started to flinch himself when he realised that Hongseok’s teeth tasted weird. It was like he had ingested a spice of some kind; while it wasn’t spicy, it was cool, and it wasn’t long before Shinwon’s entire mouth also tasted of this spice. He backed away from Hongseok first, once they could part.

“Your mouth tastes weird,” said Shinwon.

“It can’t,” said Hongseok. “We said we’d give it a few hours after dinner. What can you taste?”

Shinwon stuck his tongue out and licked the back of his hand. His mouth still felt cold.

“I don’t know,” he said. “It’s just really … really … cool. Spicy, but not in a hot way.”

Hongseok looked lost for a few seconds, until he raised his eyebrows. “I think you’re talking about my toothpaste.”

Shinwon shook his head. “I thought toothpaste was supposed to taste good?

“It’s not that bad. The mint’s just a bit strong. I don’t usually use this brand, but I didn’t have a choice when I bought it.”

“Don’t kiss me again after you’ve brushed your teeth.”

Hongseok let out an exasperated sigh. “What do you want me to do? You don’t like it when we kiss after I’ve eaten, and you don’t like it when I’ve brushed my teeth. When are we even supposed to kiss then?”

“If you’d kissed me at ten like I asked, then we wouldn’t have this problem.”

Shinwon was expecting Hongseok to snap back at him. Instead, the latter just asked him, “Do you need me for anything else? Or can I go to bed now?” All Shinwon did was shake his head, and Hongseok marched out of the living room.

Over the week, they kept their kissing schedule consistent. In the morning, they kissed at half seven; in the evening, they fixed on ten, before Hongseok brushed his teeth. Shinwon had a feeling that Hongseok had come to the same realisation, too, that kissing was inevitable. They still squirmed and complained to each other about the smallest faults they found, but neither of them attempted to resist any more when it was time to kiss.

Things came up over the week. When Hongseok came home from work every day, he complained about the bead affecting his co-workers. They all knew about the bead now, and even though they were doing their best to avoid triggering the bead’s effect, there were still fresh mishaps taking place every day in the office. By the end of the week, it sounded like a colleague called Seoho was a particular menace to Hongseok, which in turn was triggering the jealousy of somebody called Kim Geonhak, who worked in HR and who, Hongseok suspected, had a thing for Seoho.

Shinwon met Yuto again on Wednesday. Yuto mentioned something about a meet up that Wooseok was organising for that Saturday, and it took some persuading before Shinwon accepted. He didn’t need to break the news to Hongseok; when the latter came home, he mentioned that Wooseok had spoken to him about Saturday as well. The next day, as Shinwon was eating the last of the blackberries for lunch, it occurred to him that he didn’t know Hongseok at all. He had no desire to know him, but as the afternoon drew on, he felt weird that he was living as a stranger in a stranger’s home. It got the point where even sitting down on the sofa felt odd; and although he resolved to talk to Hongseok about it, his reluctance meant that he didn’t say anything until Friday evening.

On Friday, Hongseok returned home late, having gone to the supermarket first because he stuck to his insistence that he paid for all their groceries. This delay meant that they didn’t kiss until half ten that evening. Shinwon pulled away first, but he kept his tails around Hongseok. He didn’t react to the latter trying to shimmy his way out.

“What is it?” said Hongseok, when he stilled himself.

“I’ve been thinking,” said Shinwon, “this was our eleventh kiss, yeah? Not including the one where you swallowed my bead.”

Hongseok’s eyes darted from side to side. “I think it is,” he said. His tone was full of caution.

“I feel like we should get to know each other a little bit more.” Shinwon couldn’t help but wince when he finished speaking. He couldn’t believe that he was asking a human to do this.

“Why?” said Hongseok, just as he tried to take a step back. Shinwon loosened his tails a little, allowing him to move without falling over.

“You said that we shouldn’t make this weird. We’ve still got eighty-nine kisses to go. That’s a long time to kiss someone without knowing anything about them.”

“Can we not talk about this with your tails around me? Can you at least let me go?”

Shinwon complied—and then he blocked the door.

“I’m not asking you to give me your full life story,” he said. “All I know is that you’re called Hongseok, and you’re an IT consultant who works a nine to five job in an office. I don’t even know how old you are.”

“I’m 26,” said Hongseok. He was still frowning.

Shinwon exhaled. “You’re so young, it’s depressing.”

“How old are _you_ then?”

“How old would you say I am?” Shinwon grinned.

Hongseok narrowed his eyes. “I know you’re Yuto’s hyung, and Yuto has two tails, which must mean that he’s at least one hundred years old. You must be at least one year older than him, so I will say … 115 years old?”

Shinwon covered his face with one of his tails, and he wriggled on the spot to feign embarrassment.

“Oh, Mr … Hongseok, whatever your surname is, you flatter me so much,” he said. “I’m 125.”

“It’s Yang,” said Hongseok, as he looked disbelievingly at Shinwon. “Yang Hongseok.”

Shinwon nodded, and then he seemed to only just take in the full extent of Hongseok’s answer.

“Wait,” he said. “You worked out Yuto’s rough age from his tails. How did you know that?”

Hongseok looked just as surprised for a second. “Just because I don’t like your species, it doesn’t mean I haven’t done my research.”

Shinwon scurried over until he was standing behind the sofa, and he propped his elbows on the back. He rested his head in his hands, and then started to waggle his tails.

“So, when did you dislike gumihos?” he asked. “Was it before or after your research?”

“Before.”

“Oooh, so did you have a bad run-in with a gumiho when you were younger?”

“I thought you didn’t want my life story.”

Shinwon’s eyes widened, but he said nothing. Hongseok walked past him, but Shinwon didn’t move for a long time. Why was he so curious? It made sense that Hongseok wouldn’t like him because of a bad experience. Wasn’t this the very reason he’d been so drawn to him a few weeks ago? He definitely belonged to the generation of young humans who, when they were children, had been encouraged to try and understand and tolerate the magical world around them; and yet, he had taken an instant dislike to Shinwon. His behaviour now went against everything that he, most likely, was taught as a child.

If Shinwon couldn’t directly ask Hongseok, then he would have to use other methods of obtaining information. On Saturday, Wooseok and Yuto had agreed to meet them at half one. Hongseok cut through the park again, but at least he kept his walking pace reasonable this time. Shinwon stayed by his side, but it was taking a lot of self-control to wag his tails, rather than spread them out. There was a small part of him that was afraid of running into Hyunggu now. Shinwon’s bead didn’t have the ability to protect Hongseok from being grabbed and kissed by another gumiho; and he didn’t want to find out what would happen if Hongseok swallowed another bead.

They crossed the park without incident, and they made it to Yuto and Wooseok’s flat on time. That was how Shinwon ended up sitting on the floor of Wooseok’s living room, as the only one present who wasn’t eating ice cream. Hongseok had one tub to himself, and Wooseok was mainly scoffing down the other tub. Sometimes, Yuto stroked Wooseok’s arm, or rubbed his cheek on his shoulder, and then opened his mouth wide for Wooseok to feed him a scoop. Shinwon always observed Yuto, but each time, he was disappointed to see the joy on his face with each bite.

When there was a lull in conversation, Shinwon seized the chance to say, “Here’s a random question. Wooseok, do you know if you’ve got any magical blood in you?”

“Me?” Wooseok blinked. Shinwon decided to ignore the looks he could feel Hongseok shooting at him. “You mean, like, witches and wizards?”

“Yeah, or any magical creatures in your family, that kind of stuff.”

Shinwon glanced at Yuto, who just seemed pleased that he was making an effort to talk to them. He could still sense Hongseok’s burning glares, so he raised his tails like he was creating a barrier.

“I’m related to a family of witches on my dad’s side,” said Wooseok. “His great-great aunt was gifted, and her descendants all have magic in them.”

“Are you close to them?”

Wooseok shook his head. “My great-great granddad was really scared of his sister, so my family lost touch with them for ages. It was my dad and my aunt who found our relatives again.”

“Really?” Shinwon leaned in closer. “Have you met them?”

“Yeah, we’ve seen each other a couple of times. It’s actually how I got to first meet Hongseok hyung.”

Shinwon’s eyes widened. He glanced at Hongseok, whose face was full of fury, and then he turned to the couple. At first, Yuto was looking up lovingly at Wooseok, until he also noticed Hongseok, and his face fell. Wooseok, however, was completely oblivious to Hongseok, and he kept talking cheerfully.

“I was, like, eleven when we first met,” he said, “and dad had just recently got talking to his, er, I don’t know how many times removed they are, but they’re his cousins, and I was told to call them uncle and auntie. Anyway, we had this, like, big family meet up, and auntie Hyojin had invited a gumiho with her, and dad was really fascinated—”

Shinwon thought he could hear Hongseok mutter something, but Wooseok was so wrapped up in his anecdote that he was oblivious to everything around him.

“—so he got talking to them, and I was really fascinated as well because it was my first time actually meeting a gumiho. It’s kind of funny, actually, because I thought that the gumiho was alone, but then I saw that her tails were wrapped around somebody, and then I realised that Hongseok hyung was with her. I asked her, I was like, ‘oh, who’s this?’ and she said, ‘this is my great-nephew’—hyung—!”

Shinwon turned to Hongseok in time to see him bend forward with his face contorted in pain, and both hands clasping his neck. Shinwon barked at Wooseok and Yuto to stay where they were, before he slid over to Hongseok and wrapped as many of his tails as he could all around him. He slipped his hands under Hongseok’s, and pressed down on his neck just light enough for him to sense his swollen bead.

Shinwon leaned closer into Hongseok’s ear. “Kid,” he said, “remember what I told you before? Calm down. You’re somewhere safe. You’re at your friend’s house.”

Hongseok didn’t seem to respond. Shinwon moved in even closer, and he kept his fingers on his neck as he continued to talk to him. When he stroked his back with his tails, Hongseok wriggle a little in reaction. Shinwon didn’t stop talking or stroking until he felt the bead return to its normal size, and he pulled his hands away first. He let go of Hongseok one tail at a time, and then retreated back to his spot the moment he determined that Hongseok would be okay again. For the first time in a while, he turned to Wooseok and Yuto, who were clinging to each other.

“Hyung?” said Wooseok, softly. “Are … are you okay?”

“He’ll be alright,” said Shinwon, which drew Wooseok’s attention to him. “What that was, kid, was my bead getting nervous because Hongseok was feeling nervous, and it tried to kill him. Don’t trigger that again, got it?”

Wooseok just nodded. His mouth was open, but there was a vacant look in his eye. Shinwon added a little snarl, for good effect, and he grinned as Wooseok just cuddled Yuto even tighter.

He made no effort to lighten the mood again, instead opting to let Yuto do all the hard work. A part of him felt that Yuto deserved it, for persuading him to come to Wooseok’s again when, last time, he had promised to never bother him again with invites to meetings like these. Another part, however, was thankful that Yuto had persuaded him, because now he knew one thing for certain: Hongseok was related to a gumiho.

***

Hongseok had arrived at Wooseok’s in a good mood; but when he left four hours later, he was anything but happy.

He blamed Shinwon, mainly. He had wondered why Shinwon wanted to go. Just like last time, he had sat there barely saying anything—and the most excited he’d been was when Wooseok had exposed his family. As much as Hongseok liked Wooseok, he was to blame too. He knew that once the kid was over-excited, he had a habit of ignoring everything both good and bad around him. If Wooseok hadn’t been stopped, who knew how much more he would’ve revealed? That Hongseok’s dad was a gumiho he barely saw more than twice a year when he was growing up, and had last appeared in his life when he was sixteen, when he knew for certain that Hongseok hadn’t inherited any magical genes from him?

Hongseok was angry enough that he didn’t look at Shinwon in the lift down, and he walked ahead of him on the way home. He could sense the gumiho keep up with him, and there were a few times when he had tried to talk, but Hongseok ignored everything. They kept up this state of silence as they began to cross the park. Since the sun was out, there were groups of people sat on the grass and benches, as well as joggers and dog owners walking along the paths.

Hongseok thought nothing of this as he kept walking—but then he heard a scream behind him, and he turned around to see a pallid Shinwon running to him. All his tails, and the furs on the tails, were sticking up. Shinwon darted around Hongseok, screaming his name, and then he saw a Bichon Frise running up to him. The dog had a collar attached to a retractable leash, but there was no owner in sight.

“You’re scared of dogs?” said Hongseok. Was Shinwon, this proud, mighty gumiho, genuinely scared of a tiny dog?

“Hongseok-ah—” Shinwon wailed into his ear. “—help me— _please_ —”

The dog tried to follow Shinwon, except the latter gripped onto Hongseok’s shoulders hard and manoeuvred him around. Hongseok’s first instinct was to force Shinwon to let go of him—if he wanted a human shield, he could go and find someone else—but he changed his mind a second later, when he felt tears land on his t-shirt, and he heard Shinwon emit a tiny sob.

No matter how they turned around, the Bichon Frise would not give up, and Shinwon whimpered every time it seemed to draw even nearer. Hongseok tried to remember the blocking technique he’d seen demonstrated on the TV, and he began to stick his leg out a bit more. After a few gentle nudges, the Bison Frise backed away a little, but continued to stick its tongue out and wag its tail as it looked up at them.

“—stop kicking my dog—” Hongseok heard someone yell at them.

The dog’s owner was running up to them. His face was red from both exercise and anger.

“I wasn’t kicking,” said Hongseok, “I was blocking your dog. It wouldn’t leave my … this gumiho alone.”

The owner didn’t say anything as he picked up his dog. His face was still angry, though, and Hongseok prepared himself for an argument. They made eye contact, and the owner’s expression softened a little just as Hongseok sensed the bead twitch.

“It looked like you were kicking her,” said the owner.

Hongseok crossed his arms. “I’ve told you already, I wasn’t kicking. You shouldn’t have let go of your dog’s leash.”

The owner huffed. Even though he was clearly still angry, Hongseok could sense that he was starting to lose the determination to keep on arguing. As Hongseok kept up eye contact, his skin tingled a little; he knew that this change of heart was the effect of Shinwon’s bead, and for a split second, it was like he was properly in charge of its powers.

“That … that is none of your business,” was all the owner said, before he picked up his dog and turned on his heel to walk away.

Hongseok didn’t take in another breath until he could barely see the owner. He wasn’t coming back to argue on last point with him, that much was certain. Hongseok wriggled his shoulders to make Shinwon let go of him, except the latter ended up grabbing him even harder. He glanced over his shoulder, at first intending to shoot daggers at him, but then he hesitated when he realised that the gumiho’s entire body was quaking. His tails were still raised.

“What happened?” said Hongseok. “How come the dog started to follow you?”

“Can we go home?” said Shinwon. He was almost whispering.

“Yes, but can you let go? I can’t walk like this.”

Shinwon dug his fingers deeper into Hongseok’s arms. “Is it really gone?”

“I saw them leave.”

“Do you promise me?”

“I’m not lying.”

Shinwon let go as he sidestepped to the right of Hongseok. Just as quickly, he wrapped both arms around Hongseok’s arm, and pressed his whole body to his side, like that would somehow protect him from any more dangers. Hongseok stumbled a little; and when he regained his balance, he just rolled his eyes and started to walk.

They remained interlinked as they left the park. During the walk, Shinwon did lower his tails, but Hongseok knew that the furs were still standing up. He could feel every shudder Shinwon made. Every time a car passed, Shinwon flinched; and once, when his tail brushed a lamppost, he jumped and whined.

In the lift up to the flat, Hongseok couldn’t help but ask again, “Are you really scared of dogs?”

“Yeah,” said Shinwon. He was staring at the lift doors.

Hongseok fished his keys out of his pockets with his free hand, and neither of them said anything as he unlocked his front door. He led Shinwon into his flat, where the gumiho took his shoes off by treading on the back, instead of using his hands. When Shinwon continued to cling onto him, Hongseok guided him into the living room, and managed to shake him off at last by making him sit down on the sofa.

“We’re home,” said Hongseok.

Shinwon nodded, but his stare was blank.

“I’m going to shower,” Hongseok continued, as he walked over to the TV. He grabbed the remote from underneath, and turned it on. He put the remote down next to Shinwon’s hand, and he was about to leave when he studied Shinwon’s face, and saw how pale he still was. “If you need me, I should be out in about fifteen minutes.”

At first, Hongseok kept his thoughts clear as he showered. When he came out and walked past the living room, he looked in to find Shinwon still sitting motionless, and staring at the wall instead of the TV. Hongseok continued on to the kitchen to cook his dinner; but as he stirred the rice and the chicken around in the pan, his mind started to drift.

It shouldn’t be bothering him this much that Shinwon had a phobia of dogs; it wasn’t like he was scared of something irrational like a single baked bean, or that he was being watched by a duck all the time. Maybe it was because this new information didn’t fit Hongseok’s view of Shinwon. Over the past week, he had come to know Shinwon as an obnoxious gumiho who looked down upon humans, took every advantage of his surroundings whenever he could, and prided himself on his extensive knowledge of the world—and yet, a Bichon Frise that didn’t even reach his knee had made him cry. The contrast felt too extreme.

Hongseok started when he could smell burning, and he groaned as he flipped the rice over. Great, he had burnt his dinner thinking about Shinwon. What else was there for him to ruin? Why did he even care about the gumiho anyway? He was only here because he had to get his bead back. They were going to return to their separate lives by the end of the next month.

Despite this, there was a sense of unease Hongseok as he plated up his rice. Shinwon hadn’t entered the kitchen once. After some deliberation, Hongseok took out a bowl from a cupboard, and filled it up with four eggs and two apples. When he entered the living room, he found Shinwon still sitting there, still zoned out from the dog.

“Hey,” said Hongseok, as he nudged the bowl into Shinwon’s hands. The gumiho yelped, and his eyes widened as he looked around the room wildly for a few seconds until he seemed to realise where he was. “Eat up. I don’t want to taste raw egg in my mouth again.”

Hongseok didn’t look at Shinwon as he sat down on the other end of the sofa, and he kept looking at the TV as he ate his dinner. At one point, his curiosity got the better of him, and he eyed Shinwon right as he was cracking open an egg on the rim of the bowl. The two apples were still inside, and it looked as though two eggs were still intact. Then Hongseok was sure Shinwon looked at him, and his eyes darted back to the TV just as he poked the corner of his mouth with his fork, and he winced.

“My granddad only has eight tails,” said Shinwon, a minute later. His voice sounded stronger than earlier.

“Does he?” said Hongseok, without looking at him.

“A Jindo mauled his tail off in … I think it was the 1710s.”

“Oh,” was all Hongseok said.

“I didn’t used to like meeting him when I was a pup. I always found his stump scary. I always thought, why isn’t there a tail there? My granddad used to put a bit of red dye on his fur and claim that it was blood from the original attack.”

“He sounds like a character.”

“He is. I haven’t seen him in ages. He ran away to Jeju almost a hundred years ago, and apparently he lives in the place where Gwanghae was exiled to.”

“Have you always been scared of dogs?”

“All gumihos are scared. It’s an innate phobia, from when you lot used to use dogs to kill us. I’m scared, Yuto’s scared, even Hyunggu’s scared, and I know because I saw him screaming for his life once when a tiny little chihuahua brushed his foot.”

Hongseok snorted, and he turned to look at Shinwon properly. There was colour in his face again, his eyes were focused once more, and all his tails were sprawled out over the sofa. Seeing him recovered made Hongseok smile a little, until he realised what he was doing and he cleared his throat.

“Why are you telling me about your family, anyway?” said Hongseok. “I don’t care.”

Shinwon shrugged. “It’s only fair. Since I found out something about your family, I thought you should know more about mine.”

Hongseok’s face soured as he stood up. Of course Shinwon was up to something, of course he was still after more information about Hongseok’s family. He had probably tried to catch Hongseok off his guard, lure him into exposing everything by disguising his questions as chitchat. Without saying anything, he walked past the gumiho and out of the living room.

“You haven’t finished that,” said Shinwon.

“I’m full,” said Hongseok, without looking behind him.

Hongseok entered the kitchen, where he leaned on the counter and scooped the remaining rice into his mouth in three bites before he chucked the dish and fork into the sink. After he washed everything up, he walked straight past into his bedroom, where he spent the time staring at his phone until the clock ticked over to ten. He shuffled out into the living room, where Shinwon was waiting for him.

“You’re on time,” said Shinwon.

“We said we’d kiss at ten,” said Hongseok. He still flinched when Shinwon’s tails curled around his torso, and he shut his eyes the moment their faces neared each other.

Hongseok squealed when he felt Shinwon slobber into his mouth. Even his tongue seemed to be wetter and heavier than before. When they parted, Hongseok elbowed Shinwon away, and he stumbled into the bathroom where he locked the door and brushed his teeth over twice.

Then there was a knock on the door, followed by Shinwon saying, “Hey, are you okay?”

Hongseok immediately took another swig of water, and he gargled like he was responding. He held on for as long as he could, before he spat it out into the sink.

“I know you can hear me,” he heard Shinwon say, followed by a light thump on the door. “There’s no point avoiding me.”

Hongseok unlocked the door, and he pushed it open. The door didn’t swing very far when it hit Shinwon on the other side, and Hongseok decided to ignore his yells as he stepped out.

“What the hell were you doing before we kissed?” said Hongseok, as he closed the door behind him.

“What do you mean?” said Shinwon. He was rubbing his shoulder with two tails.

“Why was your mouth so wet?”

“ _That’s_ what you’re mad about?” Shinwon looked incredulous, before he licked the back of his hand. He glanced down at the lightly shiny stripe of saliva. “I don’t know what your problem is. This is fine.”

Hongseok frowned in disgust, and he pulled the bathroom door open. “Clean your hand before you go to bed,” he said. “I’m not having your saliva all over the floorboards.”

Shinwon glared at him, and then he ran the back of his hand along a tail. Hongseok rolled his eyes, and said nothing else to him as he went back into his own bedroom.

The next morning, Hongseok was sure Shinwon was just spiting him now. He thought his lips looked shinier than before, and he could have sworn there was a dribble of saliva running down the corner of his mouth—except when he tried to dab it dry, there was nothing there. He was engrossed enough that he didn’t realise Shinwon was clapping until a good while later.

“What are you doing?” said Hongseok.

“That was our fourteenth kiss,” said Shinwon, “which means we only need to kiss for seven more weeks.”

Hongseok pulled a face. “Nice to know,” he said, in a monotone.

“We should celebrate,” said Shinwon. “How about we visit somewhere fancy, like—”

“No,” said Hongseok, “I’m busy today. I’m meeting Jinho and Hwitaek later.”

“That’s okay, I’m up for brunch at—”

“No.”

“Let’s do something at night. Let’s go to—”

“No. I can’t stay out late.”

“Why not?”

“I have to go to work tomorrow.”

“You don’t fall asleep until, like, twelve anyway,” said Shinwon. Hongseok just stared at him. “What? That’s usually when you start snoring.”

“I don’t snore.”

“Uh, yes, you do, and you’re really loud. You should get one of those anti-snore strip things to put on your nose.”

“Like I said, I don’t snore.”

Shinwon rolled his eyes. “I’ll buy them for you.”

“ _No_ , I don’t need them.”

“I’m trying to help you—” said Shinwon, as his tails draped over his torso.

“I don’t need your help,” said Hongseok, as he crossed his arms.

“I don’t like listening to you snore all night long.”

“I’m going to be late,” said Hongseok, and he knocked Shinwon aside to enter his bedroom.

The only thing Hongseok said to Shinwon was a half-mumbled “goodbye” before he left the flat. As he waited for a lift, he briefly wondered if Shinwon was right and he did snore—but if that was the case, then how come his brother or his mum never mentioned it? He had had friends and colleagues alike sleep over in the spare room before, and he’d had sleepovers and spent some nights in a drunken slumber at a friend’s place. Nobody, not one person, had ever told him he snored. He felt further validated when both Jinho and Hwitaek declared that he didn’t snore—but still, on the way back home, Hongseok detoured to a nearby shop to buy a pair of earplugs.

“I don’t snore,” said Hongseok to Shinwon, when he returned home, “but since I apparently bother you, I got you these.” He thrust the earplugs into Shinwon’s hands.

Shinwon took one look at the earplugs, and he scoffed.

“Firstly,” he said, “these don’t work on gumihos because our hearing is vastly superior to yours. Secondly, _you_ are the problem, not me.”

“I. Don’t. Snore.” Hongseok crossed his arms. “Jinho and Hwitaek said I don’t, and they should know because I’ve crashed at theirs before.” 

Shinwon tutted. “You humans need a hearing test.”

“Why do you insist I snore? What does it sound like?”

Shinwon cleared his throat, and then made an exaggerated inhaling and exhaling noise. Hongseok listened, but as far as he could tell, it just sounded like heavy breathing. The noise wasn’t deep or guttural.

“That’s not snoring,” said Hongseok. “You sound like you’re just breathing in loudly.”

“I’m only copying you. If that’s breathing, breathe quieter.”

Hongseok threw his hands in the air. “I can’t just ‘breathe quieter’, I’m _asleep_. Oh my god, how did you ever sleep in the park?”

Shinwon looked a little affronted as he started to stroke his own jaw with one tail. “Everything in the park is natural. I never had to put up with humans breathing loudly.”

“Can you stop whining?” said Hongseok. He saw Shinwon open his mouth, and he hastily continued. “Just because you don’t like me, it doesn’t mean everything is _my_ fault. I’ve already bought you some earplugs. If they’re not right for you, go and buy your own.”

Shinwon still looked like he wanted to argue, but he didn’t say anything. Hongseok took it as his cue to go to the bathroom; and they didn’t say another word to each other until ten o’clock.

***

If you asked Shinwon, he would admit, after a while, that it had been wrong of him to try and uncover more about Hongseok’s family when he’d known how uncomfortable the subject had made him. Despite this, Shinwon still had lots to complain about Hongseok, and he vented it all to Yuto on Monday.

“He didn’t even bother to read the fine print on the earplugs,” said Shinwon. He followed Yuto around a clothes shop that seemed to specialise in t-shirts with designs featuring colourful pictures of humans, and big, bolded letters that spelt out the names of various TV shows and films. “He bought a pair that isn’t compatible with gumihos. I could have done a better job by sticking tissues into my ears.”

Yuto stopped in front of a rail, and he picked out a black t-shirt. He glanced over the design for a second, and then put it back.

“Yeah, but hyung, at least Hongseok listened to you and tried to do something about it,” said Yuto, as he pulled the next shirt out. “He didn’t need to buy those earplugs.”

“Then what was the point of him doing something if he wasn’t going to do it properly? He told me that I need to buy my own earplugs, and this isn’t even _my_ problem.” Shinwon watched as Yuto pushed the ends of the hanger to his left, so he could see the designs better. “What are you looking for, anyway? You don’t normally wear stuff like this.”

“It’s not for me.” Yuto stopped on another shirt for a few seconds, and then moved on. “Some of Wooseok-ie’s shirts are really old. He needs new clothes.”

“Can’t he buy it for himself? He’s not a child.”

“I want to surprise him.” Yuto’s tails started to wag. “He’s always buying me presents, but I’ve barely bought him anything since we started dating.”

Shinwon pulled a face, just as Yuto turned to look at him.

“Hyung,” said Yuto, “don’t look at me like that. This is my choice.”

“Yuto-ya, you must understand me. You must have felt this way when you first got together with Wooseok.”

Yuto shook his head. “I’ve always trusted him.”

“You don’t have to lie to me.”

“I’m not lying. I’ve always felt safe around Wooseok, and I feel safe around his friends too. Hongseok isn’t a bad person, hyung. You asked him to let you stay in his flat, and he did.”

Shinwon gaped. “He tried to throw me out at first.”

“Yeah, but he still let you stay.” Yuto pulled out another t-shirt, and his eyes lit up as he studied the print. He flipped the shirt around, and pressed it to his body. “What do you think? Do you think this will look good on Wooseok-ie?”

Shinwon frowned. “Nothing looks good on that bear.”

If Yuto heard him, he didn’t show it. Instead, he turned the shirt around again, and looked at the front with a wide smile on his face. Shinwon sighed.

“It’ll look … decent on him, I suppose,” he said.

Yuto’s tails swayed so violently that he almost knocked a rail over. Not that he noticed; he was looking at Shinwon with big, rounded eyes, and so much joy on his face that Shinwon stepped away from him, just in case he was getting ready to pounce onto him and pull him into a hug.

“I knew you’d agree with me, hyung,” said Yuto. He flipped the tag over.

“Don’t ask me things like that again.” Shinwon crossed his tails over his chest. “I’m not shopping for your … for _him_. Now can we go somewhere else? I’m getting bored of this shop. Do humans have no taste in fashion anymore? I swear the generation before this lot had a much better sense of style.”

Shinwon continued to grumble, but he couldn’t deny that Yuto was right; Hongseok didn’t need to buy him those earplugs, and he had never been under any obligation to let Shinwon stay in his flat. In fact, the more he thought about it, the weirder it felt that Hongseok was paying for all their groceries, and Shinwon was contributing nothing. At first, he had only let it slide because he wanted to test Hongseok’s bluff—and Hongseok had already proven he would stick to his word. If Shinwon continued to allow him to buy his food, wouldn’t that build up to some kind of a debt?

Shinwon raised the issue that evening. He timed his movements so that he went into the kitchen when he heard Hongseok turn off the stove. As he walked up to the fridge, he declared, “I’m sure we haven’t got many eggs left.”

“I think you’re right,” said Hongseok, as he focused on plating up his dinner.

Shinwon opened the fridge first, and then took out four eggs. “There’s only four left,” he said. “That’s enough for just me tomorrow. We should go shopping soon.”

“I’ll do it on Wednesday. My boss has organised a post-work dinner for tomorrow, so I’m going to be late home. I’ll try to come back before nine.”

“You could always let me do the shopping tomorrow, especially since you’re busy.” Shinwon shut the fridge, and turned to Hongseok. The latter was looking at him, with the now-empty pan and spatula still hovering over his plate.

“No,” said Hongseok. “I’ve already said I’d buy everything.”

“You could at least split the grocery bill with me.”

“You’re my guest. You shouldn’t have to pay for anything.”

“I’m not going anywhere for weeks. I’ve told you before, I’m not a charity. I don’t want you buying everything.”

Hongseok put the pan down, and pointed the spatula at Shinwon. “Most people would be happy that they’re not paying anything, especially over two months.”

“I’m only in your life for as long as it takes us to reach the one hundredth kiss. I don’t want to owe you anything in this time.”

“If I buy six individual boxes of six eggs, it’s going to be way more expensive than buying one big box of twenty-four eggs,” said Hongseok, as he dumped the spatula into the sink. “I can afford to buy food for myself. I don’t want to live off your money.”

Shinwon scoffed, and shook his head.

“Funnily enough, that’s how I feel,” he said. He noticed how Hongseok started, but he chose to ignore it as he continued, “I have my own pride as well. How about I go shopping with you on Wednesday, and we can decide how to split the bill? I’ll even treat you to dinner at a really good place that does menus for all kinds of species.”

“You don’t have to do that. I’ll get the shopping out of the way, and come back early—”

“You clearly need time to think it over,” said Shinwon. “It’s okay, I’ll give you the whole of tomorrow to make your mind up.”

“I don’t—”

“Let me do something, okay? I don’t like twiddling my thumbs all day when I’m living in someone else’s home.”

Hongseok still looked unconvinced, and Shinwon didn’t try to persuade him any further that evening. Neither of them talked about it the next morning; and when Hongseok returned home just after nine, his breath smelt enough of fermented hops that Shinwon decided that it was the wrong time to try and convince him again. Instead, he waited until Wednesday. When it was almost time for them to kiss, he sat down on the sofa and started to brush his furs in the same direction; and although he sensed Hongseok entering the room just before half seven, he kept his back to him as he continued to groom himself.

“We need to kiss,” said Hongseok, after a short while.

“It’s Wednesday today, isn’t it?” said Shinwon.

“Yes. What now?”

Shinwon turned to look at him. “You haven’t given me an answer yet.”

“For what?” said Hongseok. A second later, his eyes widened. “Don’t be stupid. I can go to the supermarket on my own.”

“That’s not the point.” Shinwon sighed. “I’m not paying for everything you put in the basket. I’m just paying for _my_ share.”

“If you want to go with me, fine, but I’m coming back here. I’m not going to dinner with you.”

“I’m treating you to dinner because I want to thank you for letting me stay here.”

Hongseok narrowed his eyes. Shinwon groaned as he stood up; what had he done wrong to land himself with such a stubborn human? He was already doing his best to thank Hongseok for his extra acts of kindness, and yet he was refusing him at every turn, like he was suspicious that everything Shinwon wanted to do was a trap.

“Okay,” said Shinwon, “since you don’t want me to go to the supermarket and have dinner with you, then I’m not going to kiss you.”

Hongseok cocked his head. “That’s fine,” he started to say, before Shinwon interrupted.

“Oh, no, I’m not kissing you again _until_ you agree to the supermarket and dinner.”

“You can’t do that—”

“Yes, I can.” Shinwon cupped his jaw and cheeks with his hands. “Or what, you’re going to force me to kiss you? I thought you hated it?”

Hongseok placed his hands on the back of his head.

“You’re forcing me to say yes,” he said. He shook his head. “That’s not right.”

Shinwon laughed. “Come on, child, you’ve done your research. You know it is not the way of a gumiho to behave morally. Anyway, what are you complaining about? Dinner’s on me. I’m not going to take you somewhere cheap and disgusting.”

It took Hongseok a few seconds before he said, “Where do you want to go?”

Shinwon gave him the name of the restaurant. “Look it up at work. Like I said, it caters to many different species. If it makes you feel safer, the majority of their customers are humans.”

“Are you done? Can we kiss now?”

Shinwon stood up, and smiled. “Is that a yes then?”

“Yes,” said Hongseok, with a sigh.

Shinwon bustled over and scooped him up in his tails. “Wonderful,” was all he said, before he kissed Hongseok.

After Hongseok left, Shinwon booked them a table for eight o’clock. He was looking forward to the restaurant, of course, but he had to make sure that Hongseok wouldn’t go back on his word. He texted Hongseok with details of his booking confirmation, and he smirked when the latter replied with just “okay”.

Hongseok barely spoke to Shinwon when he returned home, and their trip to the supermarket was conducted in silence too. Shinwon tried to make him talk by commenting on some of his purchases, but Hongseok either glared at him, or just pushed the trolley onwards. Hongseok only voluntarily spoke when they were at the tills, and they had to work out how to split the foods between them; and when they returned to the flat, he told Shinwon where to put away some of their shopping.

Just when Shinwon thought were getting somewhere, Hongseok maintained his silence once more as they left the flat again for the restaurant. The place was located on the corner of a busy street, in an area that Shinwon had witnessed become gentrified over the last ten years. They arrived early enough that they had to wait outside; and Shinwon took this chance to say—

“You’ve been very quiet today.”

Hongseok looked at him, and crossed his arms.

“Is something troubling you?” said Shinwon. “I may have many powers, but mind reading is not one of them.”

“You know what you’ve done,” said Hongseok.

Shinwon nodded. “If it’s about your family, I promise you I won’t ask again.”

Hongseok eyed him. Even though his arms were still crossed, his posture had slackened a little. “You know I didn’t want to come here tonight.”

“Sometimes, things just don’t go the way you want it to go in life. You should be thankful you’re being taken to a restaurant you don’t want to eat in, _and_ you’re not paying a single won for the meal. It could be worse, kid.”

“I know.”

Shinwon shook his head. “I’m not talking about us. Imagine if I had abandoned you in the park that night, and Hyunggu had kissed you. He’d have left you passed out in the open, and who knows who else crossed the park that night? Some petty criminals could have been on the lookout for drunkards.” Shinwon gasped dramatically. “Or worse, what if a malevolent ghost had seen you? Some of them have powers, you know, and even us magical beings don’t like dealing with them.”

Hongseok frowned. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

“I’m just being honest.” Shinwon shrugged. “If you ever encounter a bad ghost, my bead can’t do anything to protect you. Its powers don’t work like that.”

They were interrupted by the waiter who, after fetching the appropriate menus, led the way to their table near the middle of the restaurant. Shinwon glanced over the choices, but his heart was already set on his favourite dish: raw pigeon, with a salad consisting of vegetables that was safe for foxes to eat. Hongseok gave him a funny look as he ordered, which he returned when he heard him order a chicken dish.

“Well?” said Shinwon, as he gestured on either side of him. “I told you it’s mostly humans who come here.”

He watched Hongseok turn in his seat as he glanced at the other diners. The majority were humans, although Shinwon could see a party of three dokkaebis in the far corner, two vampires at another table and feasting on some very raw meat, and there was another gumiho seated not too far from them. Shinwon glanced over his shoulder, and for the first time, he spotted a witch sat two tables away from them and spoon-feeding some broth to her familiar, which had taken the form of a Pomeranian. Shinwon gulped as he turned around, and he raised his tails to try and block out the dog.

“There’s a dog, just there,” said Hongseok. He looked at Shinwon’s tails. “You’ve seen it already?”

“Stop reminding me it’s there,” said Shinwon.

“I thought you’d be freaking out more.”

Shinwon gulped again, and then explained, “As long as it stays away from me, I … I can manage.” He could feel his furs sticking up on end.

“Is that how you used to cope in the park?”

“Pretty much. It’s better if it’s a familiar, since they’re not actually dogs.”

Hongseok nodded. He looked over his shoulder, and Shinwon could see his glare settling on the gumiho.

“Do you know her?” he asked.

“Kid, do _you_ know every single human living here?” said Shinwon.

Hongseok turned around. “I get your point,” he said. “Is it just Yuto and Hyunggu that you know?”

Shinwon barked as he leaned into the back of his seat. “You see, this is karma at work. I pry into stuff you don’t want to share, and now you’re doing the same to me.”

Hongseok’s eyes widened. “I didn’t mean to—”

“Relax. You were going to find out sooner or later anyway.” Shinwon tugged the tip of a tail, and he brought it down to rest on his shoulder. He began to smooth the furs over. “Yeah, I only know them. I used to have another friend here called Hyojong, but then he went away to Ulsan in … the late eighties, early nineties, I think. As far as I know, he’s settled down with another gumiho. I’m sure she’s called Hyuna.”

“Don’t you two keep in touch?”

“A little bit. I’ve seen him a few times over the years, but, you know, we’ve spent so long apart that it’s kind of hard to connect with him sometimes. He’s living life his way, and I’m living my life my way.”

Hongseok nodded.

“Let me guess,” said Shinwon, “you want to know more about me and Hyunggu, right?”

For the first time that evening, a small smile crossed Hongseok’s face. “Are you _sure_ you can’t read minds?” he said.

Shinwon chuckled. “I guarantee you I can’t.”

“Alright, what do you think I want to know?”

Shinwon sat up straight, just as Hongseok leaned in closer.

“I’ve never been friends with Hyunggu,” said Shinwon. “I first met him when I was 70. I found him wandering around the park one night, when he’d only just moved here, and he told me his New Year’s resolution was to start afresh. Believe it or not, we were actually on okay terms at first. Then the bad bits of his personality started to show, and … to be honest, by the time he really showed his colours, I was already wary of him.”

“What did he do?” Hongseok was so focused now that it was hard to believe he’d been pissed off just a short while ago.

“I found this human, right, crossing the park, and I used my powers to lure him. I was getting ready to wrap my tails when someone grabbed my shoulders, and I got pulled onto the ground. Next thing I know, I see Hyunggu kissing my guy, and I saw him snatch his bead back, and then he just ran off. He just disappeared, right out of the park, and I had to get the guy back to his home—”

“You knew where he lived?”

“Yeah, I asked him when I was preparing to kiss him. What are you looking like that for?”

“It just seems a bit odd to ask for someone’s address.”

“I’m not irresponsible. I know how scary that park can get during the night. I always think, if that was me, right, if I was passed out in that park, I’d hope that somebody would help me and make sure I’m safe.”

A waitress carrying two plates came up to their table, and Shinwon licked his lips as she set down their food. The pigeon was just how he remembered it, uncooked but with all the feathers plucked, and no head or feet. The salad that occupied the other half of the plate was just a mixture of vegetables, with no seasoning.

“Oh my god,” said Hongseok, after the waitress had walked away. “Is that … is that _raw_?”

“What? Never seen a dead pigeon before?” said Shinwon.

“I have, but … not like that.” Hongseok looked as if he was ready to throw up.

“It’s better for me if it’s raw. Have you ever seen a fox in the wild kill a bird and then cook it on a stove?”

“Are … are you going to eat that with cutlery…?” Hongseok trailed off, like he already knew what the answer was going to be.

“Have _you_ ever seen a fox use cutlery?”

“I really don’t think I can eat.”

Shinwon looked at Hongseok. His initial reaction was to chide him for being so squeamish, but then he started to think about it through Hongseok’s viewpoint. Would a human really be okay with watching someone pull apart raw meat with their hands, and then devour it? Sighing, Shinwon waved his hand to catch the attention of a nearby waiter.

“Excuse me,” he said, “I remember seeing this last time I was here, but do you have a screen of some kind that you can put on the table? My human … companion isn’t used to seeing me eat raw meat, and I think he’s a little bit put off by it.”

A few minutes later, the waiter returned with a wooden screen that was the exact length of the table, and was tall enough that all Shinwon could see was the top of Hongseok’s head. They could still hear each other, even though at first, they barely did any talking as they ate. Shinwon broke the wings off first and chewed every bit of meat he could dig his teeth into, until the bone was fully clean. He was about to start on the body when he heard Hongseok talk.

“Is that … erm, is your pigeon nice?”

“It couldn’t be better.” Shinwon smiled anyway. “How’s your chicken?”

“It’s good.” Hongseok sounded hesitant.

“Are you scared?” said Shinwon.

“What—? No. Why would I be scared?”

“You’re thinking about me eating raw pigeon, aren’t you?”

There was a pause before Hongseok answered, “Don’t be stupid.”

“You kind of sound like you are.”

“I’m not thinking about anything.”

“If you’re wondering what I look like right now—”

“No thanks.”

Shinwon didn’t speak again as he finished off the rest of the pigeon. The screen stayed on the table for the rest of the meal, and even when Shinwon paid the bill. They stood up to leave at the same time, but Hongseok’s glare was soon fixated on Shinwon’s chin.

“You … erm, you’ve got…” said Hongseok, as he made a vague wiping gesture over his lips. “There’s … dried, on your … chin.”

Shinwon laughed as he picked up the napkin, and dabbed it on his chin. He wiped until Hongseok assured him that he was clean again, but the latter continued to look spooked after they left the restaurant.

“What did you think?” said Shinwon. “I told you I’d take you somewhere nice.”

“It was nice,” said Hongseok, “but … can you not have raw pigeon in front of me, next time?”

Shinwon gasped. “Pigeon’s their best dish. It—” He stopped when he almost trod on a translucent piece of wrapping paper lying on the pavement. Colourful letters written in both Korean and English adorned the mostly-white background, but the main thing Shinwon noticed was the outline of the ‘M’ printed all over the paper.

“Are you okay?” he heard Hongseok ask.

Shinwon pointed at the paper. “What is that?” he said.

Hongseok tilted his head. “That’s just litter,” he said.

“No, I mean, where’s it from? I see it around all the time, but I’ve never found out where it comes from.”

“It’s from McDonalds.”

“Oh, right.” Shinwon nodded. “Is it popular?”

“It’s cheap fast food, so it is popular, I guess.”

Shinwon’s tails were pointing down to the ground, and the tips of all nine started to sway a little. “Can we go there? I want to find out what’s so good about it.”

“Are you sure?” Hongseok frowned. “I thought you didn’t like processed foods.”

“I never said I wanted to _eat_ there. I just … want to see what a meal looks like.”

Hongseok looked hesitant. “Let’s talk about this later. Come on.”

It was close to half nine when they returned to the flat. As usual, Hongseok headed straight for his bedroom, and Shinwon waited for him in the living room. He turned the TV on, but his concentration started to slip when he glanced down at his phone, and saw that it was exactly ten o’clock. Hongseok never appeared though; and after waiting for another five minutes, Shinwon went to knock on his door.

“It’s five minutes past ten,” he said. He knocked again. “You haven’t brushed your teeth already, have you?” He knew, of course, that Hongseok had stayed in his room, but he had to lure him out somehow.

A few seconds later, Hongseok pulled his bedroom door open. He didn’t meet Shinwon’s eyes as he said, “Can we … can we not kiss tonight…?”

“Why not?”

“I … I…” Hongseok closed his eyes. “I don’t want to taste dead pigeon in your mouth.”

Shinwon clasped his hands over his mouth before he exhaled to smell his own breath. Hongseok shuffled backwards.

“You won’t,” said Shinwon, as he lowered his hands. “I can’t smell a trace of pigeon anywhere.”

Hongseok just screwed his eyes shut even harder, until wrinkles appeared. “I really don’t think I can do it tonight. I’ll make up for it tomorrow.”

Shinwon crossed his arms. “You want to kiss me three times tomorrow? I’m fine with that, kid, but don’t blame me if you hate it.”

Hongseok opened his eyes. “I won’t blame you. I bought it up first.”

“Okay, when do you want it? In the morning, or the evening?”

“Evening.” Hongseok grabbed the door handle. “I … don’t think we’ve got time in the morning for two kisses.”

All Shinwon could do was agree with him, and he soon wandered off to the living room. He transformed into his fox form, and then settled down to try and sleep. He rolled around for a while, though, before he curled up even tighter and used his leg to scratch an itch that had developed on his chest. He knew where it was coming from; it felt odd he hadn’t kissed Hongseok that night.


	3. I can't do magic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY when I said this would be slow to update, I thought I'd be updating once every one or two months, not five months -_- anyway, updates should be a bit more frequent now.
> 
> Anyway, there's some discussion about the tale The Fox Sister in this chapter, so if you're not familiar with it, [here](https://thesupernaturalfoxsisters.com/fairy-tales/the-fox-sister-a-korean-tale/)'s the tale.

It was fair to say that Hongseok was starting to soften to Shinwon, just a little.

He was still stuck up and condescending, but he was starting to see his gentler side too. Yes, the pigeon dish had been disgusting to look at, but Shinwon had been so happy to be eating in the restaurant that not even the dog familiar could ruin his mood. Not to mention the curiosity on his face when he had asked about McDonalds, and how his eyes had sparkled when Hongseok had sort of agreed to take him to one later on. To his credit, he had shown a small interest in him that went beyond whether or not he could perform magic, which already made him better than most of the nine-tailed foxes Hongseok knew.

Hongseok was thinking about all this when he went into the living room for their morning kiss, and he saw Shinwon sat on the floor. Hongseok did a double take when he neared; he could sense that there was something different about Shinwon. He looked exactly the same, but it was like he had sharpened his side profile overnight, and Hongseok couldn’t quite take his eyes away from him.

“Hello?” he heard Shinwon say. “Helloooooooo?”

Hongseok started when he realised the gumiho was standing in front of him.

“What?” said Hongseok.

“We need to kiss.” Shinwon puckered his lips, and kissed the air in front of him twice.

“OK.” Hongseok stood still as Shinwon’s tails wrapped around him, but he kept his arms by his side. He shut his eyes just as Shinwon kissed him—and this time, his lips were softer than before. Hongseok almost jerked his head back out of surprise, but then Shinwon’s tongue entered his mouth, and all sense of delicacy vanished. His tongue was as wet as ever, once again invading every inch of his mouth. The lump in his throat seemed to twitch more violently than before, and Hongseok shoved Shinwon away the moment they parted.

“We’re doing two kisses tonight then?” said Shinwon.

“I said we would,” said Hongseok, and he went to get ready for work.

There were enough distractions at work to take his mind off Shinwon; for a start, at least he could face everybody in accounts again, and he didn’t have to be so wary around most of his colleagues anymore, which he considered a small victory. He knew that he was still under Geonhak’s eagle eye though, as proved during the post-work dinner they had last week, when Seoho had tried to press himself up against him, even though Hongseok—and their colleagues—had made sure that they were seated at opposite ends of the table. During the commute back home, Hongseok’s mind drifted to Shinwon, and he had to snap himself out of his thoughts again. When Hongseok pushed his front door open, he jumped when he saw Shinwon standing on the other side.

“You’re back early,” said Shinwon, as he made that same funny wave he’d made back when they first met. He was leaning on the wall with his shoulder, and all his tails were draped over his hips and legs.

“Am I?” said Hongseok, as he entered his flat. “You … you’ve never been this keen before.” He took his shoes off.

“I’m just making sure we even out our kisses again. How do you want them? We can do two in a row later, or one now and one later.”

“What do you want to do?”

“Me?” Shinwon stood upright. “I don’t mind. The decision is yours.”

“I’d rather one now and one later,” said Hongseok. When Shinwon started to approach him, he held his arm out. “Give me a second.” He put his bag down on the floor. As he let Shinwon wrap his tails around him, he tried not to think about their morning kiss. They weren’t doing this to be romantic in any degree, he reminded himself; they were kissing because it was the only way for Shinwon to recover his fox bead, and for Hongseok’s life to return to normal.

Except, Shinwon’s mouth felt even softer than earlier. For a split second, Hongseok could fool himself into thinking that he was kissing another human—until he felt the bead twitch as a tongue slid over his teeth, bringing him back to reality. Hongseok stayed standing on the spot as Shinwon drew back.

“Hey,” he heard Shinwon say, “are you okay?”

“Yeah,” said Hongseok. He bent down to pick up his bag, and he slung it over his shoulder. “What does your bead actually do?”

Shinwon frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I know that you use your bead to absorb human energy, but what benefits do you get out of it? How does human energy affect you?”

“Why do you want to know?”

“None of the legends actually say what happens to the gumiho.” Hongseok started to walk to his bedroom, and Shinwon followed him. “They’re all focused on the human.”

It took Shinwon a few seconds before he said, “It’s a bit like how you eat food for survival. I guess we’re born to want human energy.”

“You mean, you get hungry for energy?” said Hongseok, as he pushed his door open.

“It’s more like an itch than actual hunger. We’re not going to die if we can’t snog someone within a week.”

Hongseok nodded. He put his bag down by his bed, and then he opened his wardrobe to grab a fresh set of clothes.

“We mainly feel emotions, and little bits of memories,” Shinwon continued. “Say if the guy I’ve just snogged had a bad day, then I end up reliving all that. I get to feel how he goes to work in a good mood, then gets told off by his boss, and then runs into me and feels happy because someone cares about him, just for a bit.”

“Wouldn’t they feel scared as well?” Hongseok pulled out a folded t-shirt, and put it on the end of his bed. “I would be terrified if a gumiho came up to me like that.”

“You’ll be surprised how little that happens. My powers are designed to relax humans before I kiss them. The main thing is that a lot of them feel valued that somebody wants to listen to them, even if they know what’s going to happen. It’s always been like that over the years.”

Hongseok put down a pair of shorts on the bed, and he closed his wardrobe. He took off his jacket, and slung it on the back of his chair.

“After that,” said Shinwon, “I start seeing their memories in my dreams. I see things through their eyes, and it’s not just stuff they did in the day that I kissed them. I’ve seen memories from when people were kids, teenagers, university students, the whole lot. It usually lasts for two or three nights.”

“So, if I hadn’t swallowed your bead, then you would’ve seen my memories?” said Hongseok. Shinwon nodded. “What’s going to happen when you get it back?”

“Who knows? Nobody’s ever swallowed my bead before.” Shinwon shrugged. “If I had to guess, I don’t think it should be any different to getting my bead back on the same night. I’ll probably just feel everything you’ve felt in two months, and I might dream about your memories for a week, maybe slightly longer?”

Deciding that things were getting a bit too close to comfort, Hongseok shooed Shinwon out of his room, and shut the door in order to get changed. It sounded like Shinwon was going to find out about his gumiho connections anyway; if he hadn’t swallowed, they would still be strangers, and he would have had access to all the times his relatives had tried to prod some magic out of him. Two months was a long time for Shinwon’s bead to stay in him, and it was mortifying to think that he would potentially know everything about him at the end of all this, but Hongseok might only ever know Shinwon as an annoying yet intelligent creature.

When he finished changing, Hongseok headed out to the kitchen, where he found Shinwon piling eggs into a bowl.

“I’ve been thinking about your bead,” said Hongseok, as he strolled over to the fridge to stop Shinwon from closing the door. He reached in to grab some red peppers. “You think you’ll see my memories, right? Does that mean you’ll also see stuff about my family?”

“If it comes up in your memories, I can’t control that,” said Shinwon. “You don’t need to worry. I did promise you I wouldn’t ask about your family again.”

“Can you predict what you might see? You must have some idea.”

Shinwon hummed. Hongseok pulled out some garlic too, and then he shut the fridge.

“I guess the more impactful the memory, the more likely I’ll see it,” said Shinwon. “I’ve dreamt about a lot of weddings. I could probably make a career out of wedding planning. I know how to spot a good wedding from a bad one now.”

Well, that wasn’t reassuring. Hongseok decided not to comment, instead asking Shinwon to move aside so he could grab the frying pan.

“I’ve seen a few childbirth ones too. They are _so_ painful. Yuto woke me up once, because he wanted to know why I was threatening to send this random guy to hell and back. Really makes me glad I was born a dog fox, not a vixen.”

“Dog fox?” Hongseok repeated, as he frowned.

“That’s what you call a male fox,” said Shinwon.

“So, if you want kids, you need to find a vixen, or a female human then?” Hongseok decided to look down at the pan as he spoke. He put it on the stove, and then pulled out a drawer to his left to pick up a spatula.

“That’s correct.”

Hongseok still didn’t look up as he put the spatula in the pan, and then moved to the sink to rinse the vegetables. “Some of the legends talk about a gumiho shapeshifting into both a young boy and a young girl, in the same story,” he said.

“Those ones were made up by ignorant humans who were scared out of their wits by us.” Shinwon spoke over the sound of a cupboard being opened. “The real legends are the ones where the gumiho doesn’t shapeshift all over the place.”

“You mean like The Fox Sister?”

“Exactly.”

Hongseok looked over his shoulder as he turned the tap off. A cupboard was open above Shinwon’s head, and he was holding a bunch of bananas in one hand and an apple in the other, like he didn’t know which fruit he wanted to eat tonight.

“I’m surprised a gumiho has never tried to correct that legend,” said Hongseok. “It’s not exactly a nice one, is it?”

“Every legend can be told differently,” said Shinwon, without looking up. “You humans have your version. We gumihos have our own.”

“How can you make it nice? It’s literally about a gumiho who killed and ate the livers of a family.”

“That’s the human version of the story.” Shinwon reached up to put the apple away, and he tore off one banana before putting back the rest.

“What’s the gumiho version then?”

“You know how the sister gets killed and replaced by a gumiho? Our version says that she deserved it, because the sister tried to tear the gumiho’s fox bead out of her throat. She was armed with a knife, and tried to rip her throat to shreds.”

Hongseok frowned. “The girl’s only _six_ years old.”

“No, she’s not. She’s sixteen. You lot knocked a decade off her age to prove your point.”

“Okay, what about the father then? He didn’t believe his sons when they told him they saw the fake sister eat the livers of the cows.”

“The father deserved it. He had plenty of warning that his daughter wasn’t what he thought she was. His eldest two sons tried to warn him, and what does he do? He throws them both out. The father died because of his own actions.”

“Your version is just saying that the gumiho was right, and the humans were wrong.”

“Isn’t that what your version does as well? You make the gumiho seem like the villain for killing a supposedly innocent girl.”

“Then how do you explain away The Salt Peddler?”

It was on this vein that Hongseok and Shinwon continued to exchange different views on various legends, all while Hongseok cooked and Shinwon ate his dinner. Every argument was the same; Hongseok was on the side of the humans, and Shinwon would reveal how the gumiho community twisted the legends to make their species the hero. They continued the argument when Hongseok went into the living room to eat his dinner; and he was three mouthfuls in when he was asked to suggest another legend for them to debate over.

“What about the romantic ones?” said Hongseok, when he had swallowed his rice. “There’s loads of legends with human grooms and gumiho brides.”

Shinwon’s face reddened at the mention. “Do we have to talk about those ones?” he said.

“Yeah,” said Hongseok, as he scooped up more rice onto his spoon. “There’s loads of stories about a female gumiho taking over the body of a young woman, and then getting married to a human man.”

Shinwon faked a yawn. “Those ones are boring.”

Hongseok frowned. “It always ends with the groom discovering his bride’s a gumiho on their wedding night.”

“There’s nothing fascinating about two newlyweds having kids.” Shinwon didn’t look at Hongseok.

“There’s one about a groom who can’t understand why his bride keeps putting something in his mouth every time they kiss.”

Hongseok narrowed his eyes when he saw Shinwon squirm a little.

“That’s just her using her fox bead,” said Shinwon, after a pause. He reached for the TV remote.

Hongseok put his spoon down. “The groom then meets a Buddhist monk one day, who tells him to swallow the bead the next time he feels her put it in his mouth, and he’ll understand everything. He even tells him to look at the land, sky, and people.”

Shinwon turned the TV on, and then he gripped the remote with one tail, like he was afraid that Hongseok would take it away from him.

“That’s so dull,” said Shinwon. He pointed at the TV. “This is better—”

“How did you learn about the one hundred kisses?”

“Yoo Jaeseok’s such a good host—”

“You said each legend can be told differently. What’s your take on the romance legends?”

“There’s no difference.” Shinwon kept looking at the TV. “The girl gets caught out, and she cries because she’s lost her bead, and she runs away. The groom’s family are shocked, and then they find the groom an actual human bride. The end.”

Hongseok stared. There was no way that Shinwon was telling the truth. For some reason, Hongseok was almost certain that the one hundred kisses came from the legends, that it wasn’t just as simple as an innate thing all gumihos knew. He wanted to keep quizzing him until he had a more satisfactory answer, but then Shinwon turned to him, and nodded at his dinner.

“You should eat up,” said Shinwon. He kept his head down. “I don’t want to taste your dinner later on. You’ve cooked the pork too well.”

Hongseok was tempted to refuse him—except he decided that he wasn’t going to stoop to the level of lowness that Shinwon had displayed yesterday, and he chose to bore holes into the side of Shinwon’s head instead as he picked up the spoon again. He had to tell himself that it was hypocritical of him to get angry at Shinwon for hiding things, when he too wasn’t being open with him. The difference was that Shinwon would inevitably find out what Hongseok was hiding once he got his bead back; but Hongseok, most likely, would never learn the truth about the legends.

“You can digest cooked meat, can’t you?” said Hongseok. He decided it was better to change the subject; if they dwelled on the legends any longer, it was just going to end in further arguments between them. “I’ve seen those leaflets that say foxes can eat cooked meats.” He stuck the spoon in his mouth. His dinner was already cooling.

“Well, yeah, I can if I’m really desperate,” said Shinwon. “I just don’t like it. I can taste the oil, and it’s not as nutritious for me as raw meat is.”

Hongseok swallowed first before saying, “If you still want to go to McDonalds, all their food’s cooked.”

“Again, I only want to see what a meal looks like.” Shinwon was still facing the TV, but three of his tails were wagging. “I always see the wrappers lying around, but no actual food.”

“I’ll take you on Saturday. I might as well have my lunch there.”

Shinwon barked, and this time, all of his tails wagged. Hongseok fell silent and focused on eating his dinner. Their earlier conversation had created enough tension already; and now that he had Shinwon in a good mood, he was going to keep it that way.

Maybe it was Shinwon’s mood that was affecting their kisses. As Hongseok stood still while Shinwon’s tails wrapped around him, he could feel the lump in his throat expand just enough to just about press into his airway. He could still breathe fine, but it was like someone holding a knife to the side of his neck; and as he debated whether to ask Shinwon to wait or not, their mouths touched. The moment he felt Shinwon’s soft lips on his, the lump shrunk to its regular size, and Hongseok relaxed into his touch. He still winced at the sensation of Shinwon licking his mouth, but it felt less invasive than before, somehow.

If Shinwon noticed a change, he didn’t show it, and nor did Hongseok ask him. They kissed like normal on Friday; and Shinwon was in such a giddy state on Saturday morning that he wrapped his tails around Hongseok a bit too quickly, and he smashed their mouths together, kissing him harder than usual. His tongue felt sloppier than usual too, and Hongseok tried his hardest not to focus too much on it.

“I’m surprised you’ve never been to McDonalds before,” said Hongseok later on, when they were approaching the restaurant in question. It was flanked by clothes stores on either side, and opposite was a ramen restaurant.

“I didn’t even know what it was called,” said Shinwon. “The name never comes up on the wrappers, just the ‘M’ logo.”

“Have you never been down here before?” Hongseok pointed at the hanging sign. “There’s the big ‘M’ right there.”

“I have, but not often. I don’t mingle with humans. I used to stay in the park all day.”

Shinwon’s tails wagged harder the closer they got to the restaurant, and Hongseok was worried for a moment that he was going to knock something over when they were inside. There was already a small gathering around the collection counter, which Hongseok figured that would be the case given it was the weekend after all. He walked over to one of the self-service machines, and he scrolled through the entire menu first for Shinwon to look at the pictures. He felt the gumiho put his head on his shoulder at one point, and his tails kept brushing the back of his calves.

Hongseok picked a Big Mac meal, and he sent Shinwon to look for a table while he waited for his order. He stood at the back of the crowd, watching his number on the screen slowly rise nearer to the top of the list. At some point, he thought he could feel two or three people looking at him, and he glanced down to see two teenaged girls on his left, and a middle-aged man to his right, all staring at him. When Hongseok made eye contact with them, they all smiled at him. Hongseok nodded, hoping that his own smile back didn’t look too strained. He had to get this bead out of him.

He did his best to avoid looking at the server when his number was called out, and when he went to find Shinwon, he made sure to look around in broad, sweeping glances to avoid making accidental eye contact. He found the gumiho sat in a corner, at a table that could seat four, and Hongseok went up to him. In his haste to sit down, he almost crushed Shinwon’s phone with the tray.

“Yuto and Wooseok are coming to meet us,” said Shinwon, as he put his phone away. “They’ve got something to tell us, apparently.”

“Okay,” said Hongseok.

Shinwon leaned over the exposed fries, and loudly sniffed. Hongseok unboxed the Big Mac to show him, and he thought he could see Shinwon licking his lips.

“What are these?” said Shinwon, nodding at the fries. “They smell like oil.”

“They’re fries,” said Hongseok. He shook the packaging, and held up the first French fry to fall out. He waved it in front of Shinwon’s face, and then yelped when he felt Shinwon’s tongue briefly touch his fingertips as he licked the food. He dropped the fry as he jerked his arm back.

“That’s so salty,” said Shinwon. “What is that? Is that potato?”

“Yeah, it’s fried potato.” Hongseok picked up a tissue to wipe his fingers dry. “Can you even eat potatoes?”

Shinwon crinkled his nose. “I don’t usually have it. No two potatoes ever taste the same.”

Hongseok frowned. “Are they meant to taste the same?” he said, as he started to eat the rest of the fries.

“I mean, like, I know what it tastes like raw. I’ve had one that was kind of boiled, but the skin was really soft and wet, and the texture was, like, half-mush, if that makes sense? It didn’t taste the same as a raw potato, but you lot called it a potato.”

“There’s loads of ways to cook potatoes.”

As Hongseok continued to eat, he watched Shinwon peel the Big Mac apart layer by layer. The gumiho sniffed the pieces of bread, the cheese that was stuck to the top bun, the patty, and the lettuce, but he put the tomato and the onions aside.

“It’s not going to taste good if you eat it like that,” said Hongseok. “Everything has to go together.”

“What, like this?” said Shinwon, and he put the two patties together on the bottom bun, then another piece of bread, and then the lettuce and the top bun. Oh well, that was close enough. “Is that supposed to taste nice?”

“It is delicious. It’s been on the menu for 50 years now.”

Shinwon pulled a face at him.

“Give it a try,” said Hongseok.

“I said I’d look at a meal, not eat it,” said Shinwon.

“Come on, I know you’re curious.” Hongseok smiled as he saw how Shinwon’s face seemed to turn even grumpier. “Don’t you want to try one bite?”

He leaned over, and managed to rip off a small piece of the top patty. Shinwon stared at the offering long enough that Hongseok was about to just leave it on the tray when Shinwon bit the end, and pulled the rest out of Hongseok’s hand. As he chewed, his eyes widened. It looked as though his chair was rocking slightly from side to side, from how hard his tails were wagging.

Then Shinwon cleared his throat, and he looked deadpan again as he said, “Well, I guess humans make good decisions every now and then.”

Hongseok grinned. “I knew you’d like it.”

“I didn’t say I liked it.” Shinwon looked to his right as he straightened up in his seat, but then his glanced at the burger again. “I said it was a good decision.”

“You liked it.” Hongseok put two fries into his mouth, to stop himself from giggling when he saw Shinwon’s eyes narrow. He had never imagined it would be this fun to wind up the gumiho.

“Hyung,” came Yuto’s voice from nearby, “I knew you’d love human food.”

Hongseok shoved even more fries into his mouth as he watched how red Shinwon’s face turned. Yuto sat down next to Shinwon, with a smile so wide that it was rivalling Hongseok’s.

“Can everyone stop putting words into my mouth?” said Shinwon.

Hongseok pointed at the burger. “I could put that in your mouth instead—”

“Hongseok-ah—” Shinwon started, in a higher pitch that Hongseok had never heard him use before. Shinwon stopped, and then he swivelled in his seat to face Yuto. At the same time, Hongseok ducked his head and pretended to clear some dirt off his lap, in his attempt to try and hide his own blushes.

“Yuto-ya,” he heard Shinwon say, still using that higher pitch. Damn, he was never going to be able to lift his head up again if he kept talking like that. “Say something, I’m being teased here.”

“I don’t see anything wrong with Hongseok’s suggestion.”

Shinwon whined, and he sounded so fox-like that Hongseok looked up to see the gumiho looking flustered. Everything about him in that moment was just so soft; his frown, his eyes, his whole aura, his profile. All the haughtiness Hongseok had come to associate with him didn’t exist.

“You’re meant to be my friend,” said Shinwon.

“I am,” said Yuto, smiling.

Shinwon puffed his cheeks out as he crossed his arms. Hongseok swore his heart stopped beating for a second.

“I hate you both,” said Shinwon.

Yuto laughed as he hugged Shinwon’s shoulders, and rested his head on them. “No, you don’t,” he said.

“Who hates who?” said Wooseok, as he appeared from over Yuto’s shoulder. He was holding a tray, with a hamburger meal and an extra box containing chicken selects on top. He was wearing a t-shirt that Hongseok had never seen before.

“I hate everyone at this table,” said Shinwon, still pouting.

“Is that a new shirt?” said Hongseok, as Wooseok sat down next to him. He figured it would be for the best if they moved on.

“Yeah, it is,” said Wooseok. His eyes were glistening. “Yuto bought it for me.”

“Didn’t I say it would look good on Wooseok-ie?” said Yuto, although this was directed more at Shinwon. Hongseok could just about see his tails wagging.

Shinwon looked Wooseok up and down. “It’s … alright, I suppose,” was his verdict. “Anyway, didn’t you have something to say to us?”

Yuto wasn’t listening. He had opened the box of the chicken selects, but he was looking at Wooseok with his mouth open. Hongseok watched as Wooseok lifted up one strip, and gently fed the tip into Yuto’s mouth. Yuto bit the chicken off, and shut his eyes as he chewed, and his tails wagged.

“Ewwww, go and get your own table,” said Shinwon, as he looked disgusted at them both.

“This is so good,” said Yuto, as he swallowed. He was looking at Wooseok alone.

“Are you listening to me?”

Hongseok figured that now would be a good time to step in, and he said, “Didn’t you want to say something to us, Yuto?”

Yuto made eye contact with him. “I was thinking about you earlier,” he started. “I know you’ve been working hard to return Shinwon’s bead to him.”

Hongseok nodded. For some reason, he didn’t like where this was going. It didn’t help that Wooseok chose that moment to reach across the table to hold Yuto’s hand. The kitsune was looking increasingly worried as he continued to speak.

“I … I think something bad is going to happen to you on Monday.”

“Like what?” Hongseok picked up his drink.

Yuto shook his head. “Whatever it is, I can feel that you’re not going to take it very well.”

“We … we think it might be work related,” Wooseok added. He didn’t sound confident.

Hongseok’s first reaction was to mentally panic. He knew he couldn’t start losing his composure while he was in McDonalds, however, especially as Shinwon was right there across the table from him.

“You’re basically telling me I’m going to have a bad day in the office on Monday,” said Hongseok. He tried to keep his tone as calm as possible.

Panic crossed Yuto’s face, like he couldn’t believe that Hongseok had seemingly misunderstood him. Wooseok’s eyes widened as he shook his head.

“No, hyung, it’s more serious than that,” said Wooseok.

Hongseok shrugged. “Oh, come on, I’ve had bad days at work.”

“It’s not that simple—”

“It’s okay, Wooseok-ie, don’t get so worked up.”

“No, but hyung—”

“Come on, he’s already said he’s fine,” said Shinwon. Hongseok turned to him with his eyebrows raised; was he actually speaking up for him? Shinwon had his tails draped over his torso now, and he was mainly turning between Yuto and Wooseok. Not once did his eyes meet Hongseok’s. “Stop bothering him, that’s my job.”

Hongseok sensed the perfect chance to take the attention off him, and he snorted loud enough to catch Shinwon’s attention.

“Since when did you have a sense of humour?” he said.

“I’ve always had one,” said Shinwon.

“Sure, you have.”

“What?” Shinwon looked offended as he elbowed Yuto. “Yuto-ya, tell him I’m funny.”

Yuto looked at Hongseok, and then turned back to Shinwon with a grin. 

“I think Hongseok’s funnier—” Yuto started.

“Get out,” said Shinwon.

Yuto whined. Hongseok smiled as he watched the two friends bickering with each other. For a moment, he could picture this Shinwon wandering around the flat, being loud and noisy; and in reality, he wouldn’t mind it at all. At least it would feel like he was living with somebody who liked him.

He started when he felt Wooseok nudge him.

“You see?” said Wooseok. His own grin was just as mischievous as Yuto’s. “Shinwon’s not that bad, is he?”

Hongseok’s face flushed, and he stuffed a handful of now-lukewarm fries into his mouth.

***

Hongseok went to the gym on Sunday morning, but then stayed in for the rest of the day. If this had happened last week, Shinwon wouldn’t have cared—they stuck to different rooms anyway, with Hongseok spending all his time in his bedroom, and Shinwon bagging the living room—but now, Shinwon just couldn’t sit still, bothered by the simple fact that Hongseok was just there, separated by a wall.

Up until a few days ago, Shinwon had viewed Hongseok as one of the ugliest humans on the planet. Then, one morning, it was like he had just _really_ noticed Hongseok’s face for the first time. It was kind of cute, actually, how he had such a small, round face compared to all the big muscles packed in his body, and there was something very charming about the shape of his eyes, and the plumpness of his lips.

Then there was the way that Hongseok’s mouth felt on his. For the past twenty years, Shinwon had been convinced that nothing could be better than the feelings that Yuto had given him, back from their brief dating spell. He could go as far to say that Yuto’s lips had been perfection itself; he still remembered how soft and warm their kisses had been, and how their mouths perfectly fitted every time. Hongseok, however, was completely threatening all of Shinwon’s memories. At first, he was bland and ordinary like every human Shinwon had ever kissed; but in the past few days especially, he was starting to really … he didn’t _like_ it, but he certainly no longer minded the fact that he was kissing Hongseok twice a day.

He knew where this effect was coming from; his own goddamn bead was turning his own powers back onto him. He supposed it was a matter of time, really, before it happened, especially since they were interacting with each other on a daily basis. Every time he tried to ignore these thoughts, however, his mind decided to keep replaying that time when Yuto had called him lonely. He always huffed at the thought; just because he hadn’t seen Yuto as much as he used to, it did not mean he was lonely. No way.

Hongseok trudged into the living room on Sunday evening on time, but Shinwon looked down at Hongseok’s chin as his tails drew them both nearer to each other. He shut his eyes just as he kissed him—and then he raised his eyebrows when he realised that Hongseok’s lips were ever so slightly apart. Shinwon’s reflexes took over, and his tongue smoothly entered Hongseok’s mouth.

When Shinwon was finished, their lips remained touching for a second longer. He pulled back gently, and then he withdrew his tails too—which was when he realised that he had placed both hands on either side of Hongseok’s hips. They looked down at the same time, and then looked up at each other again. Hongseok’s face reddened, and Shinwon snapped his arms back.

“You … erm…” Shinwon started. “You were a bit … far away, just then.”

“Was I?” said Hongseok, airily.

“Yeah, so … you were, you know, so I … had to pull you in closer…”

“Thanks.” Hongseok shifted on the spot. “Do you still need me, or…?”

“No. You should get some sleep.”

“Okay.” Hongseok nodded, but his stare was distant. Shinwon chose to fiddle with a tail, and he heard Hongseok shuffle out of the room. It was only when he heard him shut the bathroom door that Shinwon sat down, and covered his face with his tails. Did he just show concern to Hongseok, a human, by telling him to get some sleep?

It was these thoughts that kept Shinwon awake for most of the night. By the time it was Monday morning and they had to kiss, Shinwon kept his hands behind his back, and he wound his tails around Hongseok just that bit tighter. He leaned in first like usual, and explored Hongseok’s mouth as always, before he jerked his whole body back the moment the process was completed, and his tails slid off Hongseok.

“Are you done?” said Hongseok. He didn’t move from the spot.

“Yeah,” said Shinwon. “Haven’t you got work to go to?”

“I do, I’m going.” Even though there was some sense of urgency in Hongseok’s voice, he kept looking at Shinwon as he shuffled out of the room. When it got too much, Shinwon raised all his tails to block Hongseok from his view completely.

Shinwon was in the living room when he heard the front door close and the locks turn. He sighed as he slumped into the sofa, and all his limbs fell to his side, and his tails turned limp and crumpled into a pile in his lap. He had ten hours free from Hongseok now, which was ample time to deal with this inconvenient turn of feelings.

Not long after nine o’clock, however, Shinwon figured that it might be better for him to leave. Staring at the walls that Hongseok called his home was doing nothing to take his mind off him. He called Yuto, but frowned when his call picked up and he heard a vacuum slowing down like it was being turned off.

“I don’t think I can meet you today,” said Yuto. “I’m cleaning out our flat. There’s a lot for me to do.”

“I can always help,” said Shinwon. He had scrunched up his face, however, from the thought of helping him clean out a human’s flat. At least they were just talking over the phone, and Yuto couldn’t see him. “I can get the job done faster for you, and then we can hang out.”

“It’s fine, I can manage on my own.”

“You don’t have to be so—”

“Anyway, it’s Monday today. I wouldn’t want you over, even if I wasn’t doing anything.”

“Why?”

“Do you remember what I said on Saturday?”

“What’s that got to do with anything? It’s only going to affect Hongseok.”

“Hyung, you know he’s not going to take it well. I think you should be ready for him when he comes home. He’s really going to need you.”

“Ewww, no.” Shinwon shuddered, and flicked his tails like he was trying to dust himself down. “He doesn’t need me.”

“He seemed to be warming up to you—”

“Don’t you dare say that, Adachi Yuto.”

“I saw it with my own eyes.”

“You … you need an eyesight test.” Shinwon could feel himself blushing. Great, the last thing he needed right now was his own best friend siding with Hongseok.

Yuto laughed. “I don’t—”

“I thought you said you were busy? Go and … turn the vacuum on again.” Shinwon pulled the phone away from his ear, and his thumb hovered over the end call button when he heard Yuto speak.

“Hyung, seriously, Hongseok’s going to need you. He’s not a bad person. I think you’ll find you’ve got a few things in common once you really get to know him.”

Shinwon hesitated. “I told you to put the vacuum on,” he said, and he hung up for good.

Shinwon grumbled as he walked into the kitchen. Yuto was going soft. That was it; he’d lived with a human for too long, and now his foxiness was ebbing away, piece by piece, each day. No nine-tailed fox in their right mind would encourage another of their kind to support a human, for crying out loud. Besides, he wasn’t here to be Hongseok’s emotional support friend; their acquaintanceship was due to expire the moment they hit their one hundredth kiss.

At around three o’clock, Shinwon started when he heard someone unlock the front door. Shit, he hadn’t bothered to put the locks on his side of the door after Hongseok had left, and now there was a burglar trying to get in. Shinwon ran over to the door, and he started to growl as his tails straightened up. When the burglar ignored him, he raised his arms to his shoulders, and he opened his mouth as wide as he could. He shuffled so that his legs were a little further apart, as he prepared to come face to face with whoever was on the other side—

“Oh, you’re back early,” said Shinwon, the moment he saw Hongseok. He dropped his arms and tails, closed his mouth, and stood up straighter again. It was only when Hongseok had locked the door behind him, and turned around again, that Shinwon realised his eyes were red and puffy. There were a few fresh tears falling down his cheeks. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

Hongseok ignored him as he took his shoes off by the door, and then he walked past Shinwon. His shoulder knocked into Shinwon’s, but he didn’t stop as he headed for his bedroom.

“Kid, what’s up?” said Shinwon, as he ran after him. “Hey, say something. I thought you liked talking?”

Hongseok pushed his bedroom door open with so much strength that it flung straight into the wall with a bang. Shinwon started, and then darted under the doorway to stop the door from swinging shut into his face.

“Was Yuto right?” said Shinwon, as he pushed the door open again. “Did you really—?”

“They don’t want me in the office anymore,” said Hongseok, as he dumped his bag on his chair. His fist was clutching the bag straps.

“What?” Shinwon walked up to Hongseok. “Why not?” He yelped when Hongseok spun around, and he jumped back just in time to dodge his bag.

“It’s because of you—” Hongseok groaned as he lowered his arm, and his bag ended up hitting the side of his leg. He dropped it onto the floor, and used his free arm to rub his eyes dry. “—and your _fucking_ bead—”

Shinwon shifted his weight on the spot. “They sacked you?” he said.

“They want me to work from home.”

“What’re you so upset for then? You’ve still got a job.”

Hongseok screamed, and all Shinwon saw was absolute fury in his eyes before he was shoved up against the wall. He gasped when he felt Hongseok grab both his shoulders.

“I _liked_ my life—” Hongseok’s face was so close that Shinwon tilted his head back as far as he could go. “I liked going to the office. I liked seeing my colleagues every day. My life was _fine_ before you came along.”

“My life was perfect as well, before I met you,” said Shinwon. “I didn’t want this either. Stop complaining, kid—”

“I’m not a child.”

“Yes, you are.”

“I’m an adult.”

“Not to us—” Shinwon yelped when Hongseok squeezed his shoulders so hard that he was certain his collarbone was about to snap.

“I’m not a child anymore.”

Shinwon yelled again as the pain in his shoulders increased, and he screwed his eyes shut. “Okay, _okay_ , you’re not.”

“I’m not…” Hongseok’s arms trembled, and then Shinwon remembered that his bead was still in his throat, and was probably acting up right now.

Shinwon balled up his fists as he felt his tails tingle. He took in a deep breath, and then the tingling sensation travelled all down his arms and into his fists. Channelling his powers, he jerked his hands and punched Hongseok just below his shoulders. He landed his blow hard enough that Hongseok let go of him and stumbled backwards. The back of his legs bumped into his bed, and as he tumbled down into a sitting position, Shinwon jumped into his lap to straddle him.

“Calm down,” said Shinwon. “My bead—”

“Your bead, _your_ bead, that’s all you care about.” Hongseok put his hands on Shinwon’s shoulders, and tried to push him off. In return, Shinwon gripped Hongseok’s shoulders to balance himself.

“It’s going to kill you—”

“You don’t care about me.”

“I do—”

“Liar.” Hongseok gave a rough shove, and one of Shinwon’s legs slipped off the bed. “You never did. You ruined everything.”

Shinwon stopped moving. “What?” He tried to look into Hongseok’s eyes, except the latter had them shut, and tears were spilling down his cheeks.

“I know you only come back because you think I can do magic.” Hongseok slapped him again, and this time, Shinwon had to grip onto his shoulders to stop himself from sliding off the bed completely. “I can’t. I can’t do magic. I’m human.”

“Wait, stop—” Shinwon started, as he realised that Hongseok was mixing him up with someone else.

“Leave me alone.”

Hongseok tried to push him again, but Shinwon managed to maintain his balance. He wrapped his tails around Hongseok and pressed up as close as he could get, although it was difficult with the other man writhing underneath him. Shinwon’s tails tingled again as he channelled his powers, and with each stroke of his tails, he could feel Hongseok relaxing into his touch and calming down.

When Shinwon pulled back, Hongseok had fallen asleep. He gently tucked him into his bed, but rather than leave, he stayed seated next to him to make sure that he was actually asleep. The longer he stared, the more troubled he became by the tears still on Hongseok’s cheeks; and with a small sigh, Shinwon used his wrists to dab his face dry. He began to stand up, but stopped when he glanced at Hongseok’s sleeping face again; it was like he’d never realised how beautifully proportioned all his features on his face were.

Shinwon jumped to his feet when he realised what he was thinking, and he hurried into the bathroom to rinse his hands clean. As he lathered more soap onto his wrists, he tapped his cheeks with two of his tails. No, no way, he did not fancy a human. He just … he was learning to appreciate that not all humans were ugly, that was all. Hongseok was okay, he told himself as he squeezed handwash onto his hands for the third time, he was just that bit better than average at best. There were millions of people on this planet; the chances of him meeting the most attractive person in the world was slim.

As Shinwon waited for Hongseok to wake up, he began to play with his phone. What he wanted to do was to call Yuto—but it was also the last thing he wanted to do. Shinwon wanted a reason to get out of the flat; but if the kitsune found out that he was right about his prediction, then he would never meet up with Shinwon. He would be insistent that Shinwon spent all his time looking after Hongseok. Defeated, Shinwon put his phone down, turned the TV on, and sunk into the sofa and wrapped his tails around his body.

A comedy film was showing, but Shinwon couldn’t laugh or pay attention to the plot. Hongseok hadn’t been arguing with him. The only way that Shinwon could describe it was that he’d been arguing with him like he was a different gumiho, one that had left a negative impact on his life. Was it possible that this was connected to his aunt? Shinwon harrumphed when he realised that he would have to refrain from asking; he’d promised Hongseok before that he wouldn’t say another word, but his curiosity was rising with each passing second.

Eventually, Shinwon perked up when he heard rustling coming from the bedroom. He dashed into his bedroom, where he found Hongseok turning in his bed, and he sat down next to him. He draped a tail over his neck, and sighed in relief when he could feel his bead was normal sized.

“What…?” he heard Hongseok say, weakly.

Shinwon jumped, and then cleared his throat. “Nothing,” he said, “I’m just … checking you’re alive.”

Hongseok squinted at him as he put a hand over his forehead. “What’s your tail doing on my neck?”

“Like I said, I had to make sure you weren’t dead.” Shinwon lifted his tail away, and he stood up. He watched Hongseok sit up. “Are you okay?”

“Why was I asleep?” Hongseok’s eyes were still narrowed, but there was nothing hostile in his gaze.

“You … you were getting all worked up, so I made you sleep.” Shinwon began to sidestep over to the door. “My ears still hurt from you yelling at me.”

Hongseok still looked confused, but Shinwon didn’t say another word as he left. His phone rang he moment he returned to his living room, and he groaned when he saw that Yuto was calling him.

“What is it?” said Shinwon, when he answered.

“Have you seen Hongseok yet?” said Yuto. There was concern in his voice.

Shinwon was torn between being honest and lying to him. After a short pause, he opted to say, “Why?”

“Wooseok-ie’s been trying to get in touch with Hongseok, but he can’t get through. The last time he heard from Hongseok was at one, when they were both on their lunch breaks.”

“He came home early.” Shinwon couldn’t see the point in lying; if he tried, it would only lead to Wooseok and Yuto panicking that something terrible had happened to Hongseok. “He said the office doesn’t want him in there anymore because of my bead.”

Yuto gasped. Shinwon could tell that he wanted to say something, and he cut across him with, “I know, you were right, you always are.”

“He’s really not taking it well?” said Yuto.

“He was crying his eyes out the moment he came home. I made him sleep it off, and I think he’s calmed down now.”

“Hyung, take care of him.”

Shinwon glanced over his shoulder, and he saw Hongseok shuffling out of his room. He sighed, and placed a tail over his eyes. 

“Why, why, why?” he said.

“You’re the closest to him right now.” Yuto sounded confused.

“Don’t you _dare_ say that, Adachi Yuto.” Shinwon growled, for added measure. “This isn’t going to last. I’m out of here once I get my bead back.”

“You say that, hyung—”

“I thought you were busy tidying your flat?” Shinwon spoke firmly enough that he ended the call not long after. When he removed his tail from his face, he started as he saw Hongseok leaning on the doorframe. “You can come in.”

“Did you put me to sleep?” said Hongseok. He looked even more confused than when he’d been in his room.

“What if I did?” said Shinwon. “You looked like you needed it.”

Hongseok’s face flushed. “I’m sorry,” he said, as he crossed his arms. “I didn’t mean to yell at you like that.”

“I can tell.” Shinwon sat up straighter, and his tails began to sway. “Do you like working in the office?”

“Yeah, of course I do.” Hongseok frowned. “Why?”

“You never seem to hang out with your colleagues outside of work. You only ever visit the shorties and Wooseok.”

“That’s not true. We have post-work dinners and drinks.”

“Yeah, but you’ve never met up with any of them over the weekend, have you?”

Hongseok’s eyes widened. “What are you trying to say?”

Shinwon didn’t answer. He was tempted to spell it all out, but there was so much hurt in Hongseok’s eyes that he couldn’t bring himself to be so outright about his thoughts.

“You know what I’m getting at,” was what he chose to say, and then he turned around and switched the TV on.

For the rest of the day, they barely spoke to each other; and over the course of the evening, Shinwon turned up the TV volume by one digit every few minutes. He didn’t look at Hongseok when he entered the kitchen to grab his dinner, and he kept his eyes glued to the TV when Hongseok joined him in the living room. Under normal circumstances, this would have been preferable; but Shinwon wringed his hands and scratched his neck with his tails when he could feel Hongseok staring at him, because what was he supposed to say to him?

He breathed out in relief when Hongseok left the room, but he couldn’t focus on the TV anymore. He listened out for Hongseok washing the dishes and then returning to his bedroom, and he turned the TV down a little when he could hear Wooseok speaking over the phone.

“At least you weren’t sacked.”

“I know, but…” Hongseok sighed. “We were starting to get it under control, we really were. I guess I just pissed off the wrong person.”

“You’re still talking to people from work.”

“It’s not the same as actually _being_ in the office, or seeing everyone in person, or … you know what I mean, Wooseok-ie.”

There was a gap before Wooseok spoke again, and Shinwon could have sworn that he’d heard a third, quiet voice mumble something.

“Do you know what I think, hyung?” said Wooseok. “I think you don’t want to stay in your flat all day long because it makes you feel lonely.”

Hongseok spluttered. “What? No … no it … I’m not alone. I’ve got … I’ve got, erm, someone with me.”

Shinwon narrowed his eyes. Why was Wooseok talking about loneliness, all of a sudden? He took his phone out of his pocket, and he began to text Yuto to ask him if he’d been instructing his boyfriend what to say.

“I knew you’d eventually get along with him.” The joy in Wooseok’s tone was so obvious that Shinwon gritted his teeth.

“We do not. We, er, we tolerate each other.”

“That’s still getting along.”

“No, it’s not. I’d rather be alone in the office than spend my whole day with him.”

“Hyung, come on, I saw you two at McDonalds.”

Shinwon covered his fast-reddening face with his tails. He peeped through a crack to check if Yuto was texting him back; and sure enough, the three dots had appeared on the other side of the screen.

“That was one time,” said Hongseok, and he sounded just as annoyed as Shinwon was feeling. “It was a blip.”

“It didn’t look like it.” Wooseok’s voice was so teasing that Shinwon wanted to tell Yuto off through another text.

“He’s not the only person left in this world.”

Shinwon didn’t hear Wooseok’s reply; he was distracted when he saw Yuto had responded to him with: _You rumbled me, hyung. Can we meet up tomorrow? I really need to speak to you._

It was decided that Shinwon would meet Yuto tomorrow at ten o’clock. By that point, Hongseok and Wooseok had stopped talking, and Shinwon had no idea what was happening on the TV anymore. He picked up the remote to turn it off, and then he tried to find a distraction on his phone, except the silence was bothering him too much. With a sigh, Shinwon got off the sofa, and he shuffled over to Hongseok’s bedroom.

“Can I come in?” he said, as he knocked on the door.

“Yeah,” said Hongseok, and Shinwon entered his room.

Hongseok was sat, cross-legged, on his bed. He tried to smile, but his lips barely moved, and his eyes were pink and a little puffy. Shinwon sat down next to him, and he almost stretched his tails out until he remembered that this was Hongseok he was facing, and he cleared his throat and sat up straighter.

“Do you want an earlier kiss tonight?” said Shinwon.

“Can we kiss early?” said Hongseok, at the same time.

They stared at each other. This didn’t mean anything, Shinwon thought as he watched Hongseok unfold his legs. They just happened to have the same idea. That was it; Wooseok and Yuto were wrong, there was nothing deeper than that. He continued that train of thought as he wrapped his tails around Hongseok’s torso, and he circled his arms around his waist to pull him in even closer, and they kissed.

Hongseok’s mouth was open when Shinwon’s lips touched his. He decided to interpret it as Hongseok helping him out; but as he ran his tongue across the other man’s mouth, he started to think about the possibility that it could be something else, and he screwed his eyes shut. There was no way that Hongseok felt anything for him; even if he could get over the gumiho barrier, he wouldn’t just sit there all stiff and wooden—

Then Hongseok placed his hands on his shoulders, and Shinwon pulled away. He opened his eyes to find Hongseok staring at him, and he couldn’t bring himself to look away. A few seconds passed, and then Hongseok put his head on Shinwon’s shoulder as his hands snaked around to his back to hug him. Instead of pushing him away, Shinwon began to run his tails up and down his back, just a little, though he jerked his arms away from Hongseok.

“Can you even work from home?” said Shinwon. He shifted slightly so that he was sitting on his hands. He was being nice enough already, he thought.

“Yeah,” said Hongseok. “I spend most of my day on the phone to clients anyway.”

“I see.” Shinwon felt Hongseok’s arms tighten around him, and he began to pinch the bedsheet underneath him. Okay, he supposed it was comforting to have Hongseok all warm and cuddly next to him, but this was a one-off. “How long are you working from home for?”

“I don’t know.” Hongseok tilted his head a little, and Shinwon tried not to think about how soft Hongseok’s hair was. “I guess they’ll only want me back when I haven’t got your bead anymore.”

“Well, we’re 31 kisses in.”

Hongseok just tightened his grip. Shinwon let him hold on at first, but then he began to wriggle himself free, and he loosened all his tails.

“You seem really tired,” Shinwon continued, as he managed to shrug Hongseok’s head off his shoulders. “You should go to bed early, get some rest.” He didn’t look at Hongseok as he stood up, and he marched out of his room.

The moment Shinwon returned to the living room, he collapsed into the sofa, and crossed his arms across his chest. A second later, he curled his tails across his torso, but he still felt cold and oddly empty now that Hongseok wasn’t there. Even though he could hear Hongseok moving around the flat, he resisted the urge to even look through the doorway; and when he tried to sleep, he was kept awake until he heard Hongseok fall asleep.

Even though Hongseok was working from home now, they still kissed at half seven the next morning out of habit. Shinwon kept his hands behind his back this time, but he almost whined when Hongseok pulled away from him first. He regained his senses fast enough to free him from his tails, and then he said, “I’m meeting Yuto today, by the way. We’re seeing each other at ten.”

“Okay,” was Hongseok’s only reaction.

At nine o’clock, Shinwon heard Hongseok switch on his laptop; and a few minutes later, he began to hear the clatter of a keyboard, and Hongseok talking to someone over the phone. Shinwon scowled at the sudden noise, and he turned on the TV, only to switch it off five minutes later. Hongseok was working, and it wasn’t like this flat belonged to both of them.

Shinwon left without telling Hongseok. When he made it to Yuto’s, he found the kitsune alone, and busy scrolling through various articles on a tablet placed in his lap.

“How’s Hongseok doing?” was Yuto’s first question.

“He’s okay, I guess.” Shinwon crossed his arms. “He’s still upset though. Don’t ask me for details, I can’t give you any.”

“I’ve been looking up some stuff about working from home.” Yuto handed the tablet over to Shinwon. “A lot of them say that it’s best to try and keep your routine the same as when you work from an office.”

Shinwon glanced down at the screen, and then looked up just as quickly. Yuto was not seriously suggesting that he looked after Hongseok, was he? He decided to feign ignorance, and he asked Yuto, “And?”

“Does he take a packed lunch to the office?”

“I don’t think he does.”

“If he doesn’t, then he should go outside to buy lunch, and you should go with him.”

Shinwon jerked his head back. “Woah, hold on, why am I going with him?”

“He’s probably used to going with colleagues, right? You should pretend to be his colleague.”

“Oh my—no—” Shinwon handed the tablet back. “If you care for him that much, _you_ do it.”

“I don’t live with him.”

“As if I _wanted_ to live with him.”

Yuto tangled one of his tails with Shinwon’s. “I know you care about him, really.”

Shinwon rolled his eyes. “I am never meeting you and your boyfriend again for lunch.”

“You tell me, hyung, what’s wrong with Hongseok?”

“What’s wrong with him? He’s—well, he’s human, for a start, and he—he—” Shinwon scowled. All his complaints were just on the tip of his tongue. “Okay, _fine_ , he’s less of a prick than before, but he’s still a prick.”

Yuto grinned. “I think you’re still prejudiced.”

“I am _not_.” Shinwon pulled his tail free from Yuto’s.

“Prove it, hyung.”

Shinwon felt his face flush as he grabbed his phone, and dialled Hongseok’s number. For a moment, he wondered if he was actually going to pick up, since he was technically at work and everything—

“Hello?” he heard Hongseok speak, through the phone. His tone sounded normal.

“Hongseok,” said Shinwon, “what do you normally do for lunch?”

There was a pause. “What do you mean?”

“You don’t normally take in a packed lunch to the office, do you?”

Hongseok didn’t answer straightaway, and Shinwon could picture him narrowing his eyes.

“I grab lunch with whoever’s around,” he said. “Shinwon, can you not—?”

“I’m being told that if you’re working from home, you should treat it like you’re in the office. Pick a place for lunch, and I’ll have it with you.”

“What? There’s no need to do any of this.” There was suspicion in Hongseok’s voice, but Shinwon thought he could detect a hint of surprise as well.

“Yes, there is. Just choose a place, tell me when you’re going, and I’ll be there.” Shinwon sighed. “I’ll even pay for it, okay?”

A faint, constant beeping sound started from Hongseok’s end. “I’ll get back to you later,” was all Hongseok said, and then he hung up.

Shinwon put his phone down and he glared at Yuto, who had the nerve to smile at him. “Happy now?” said Shinwon.

“I can’t believe you offered to pay,” said Yuto. His tails were wagging, and Shinwon just rolled his eyes in response.

***

Hongseok ended up meeting Shinwon at half twelve, in a café located a few streets away from their flat. He only wanted a latte and a tuna and cucumber sandwich for lunch, and although he did insist on paying, Shinwon overruled him by swiping his card onto the machine faster than he could. They ended up seated at a table close to the back of the shop.

“You really didn’t have to pay for this,” said Hongseok. “It’s just lunch.”

“I wouldn’t have said I’d pay if I didn’t mean it,” said Shinwon.

Hongseok took another bite out of his sandwich. He’d been startled at the idea of coming out to buy lunch at first—he could have knocked something up at home, there was plenty of food in the fridge—but Shinwon had been right about keeping his working day consistent.

“Why do you humans like to stick everything between bread?” said Shinwon, as he pointed at Hongseok’s sandwich.

“It’s easier to eat this way.”

“Is it?” Shinwon was staring on the uneaten side of the sandwich. “There were some round dishes I saw, with loads of vegetables in. That didn’t have any bread.”

“That’s a salad.” Hongseok plucked a piece of fish out, and held it in front of Shinwon. “Can you eat tuna? Do you want it?”

Shinwon leaned back into his seat. “Do I look like I’m here to eat?”

Hongseok raised his eyebrows. “You said I should pretend you’re my colleague. You should be eating with me.”

Shinwon twitched his nose—and then he pinched the tuna out of Hongseok’s fingers. The expression on his face softened as he chewed, and Hongseok smiled at him, until he remembered what he was doing, and he disguised his lips by drinking his latte. This wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be; Shinwon was more willing than he thought he’d be, and there was something cute about the way his stubbornness crumbled.

Hongseok heard his phone ping, and he looked down. Youngjo had texted him, asking to speak to him after work finished. As he texted him back, agreeing to the call, he heard Shinwon ask him if it was work-related.

“No,” said Hongseok, without looking up, “it’s just Youngjo from accounts. He wants to speak to me later.”

He thought that Shinwon would answer. Instead, he felt his sandwich move, and he looked up to find the gumiho taking another piece of tuna. There was an odd look on his face, though, like he had just received bad news.

“What is it?” said Hongseok.

“What’s what?” said Shinwon.

“You look like I’ve just told you some bad news.”

Shinwon frowned. “I do not.”

“You did earlier.”

Hongseok wasn’t bothered to keep on arguing his point. Instead, he figured that Shinwon had got the wrong end of the stick, and that whatever Youngjo wanted to say to him couldn’t be that bad. If it was, he wouldn’t be leaving it until after five o’clock to speak to him.

Hongseok pushed the text message into the back of his mind as he returned to the flat, and he settled down in front of his laptop again. He could hear Shinwon occasionally walking, and he turned on the TV at one point. Hongseok was on a call to a client when it happened, and he was momentarily worried that his phone would pick up the noise. About a minute later, when it was clear that only he could hear the TV, his worry turned into mild irritation that the peace was being disturbed; and he was on the verge of leaving his room when Shinwon switched the TV off. When Hongseok ended his call half an hour later, and he started to work on an email, he began to shuffle in his seat. The flat felt too quiet now, even though he knew that Shinwon was in the living room.

The moment Hongseok sent the email, he walked out of his room. He stuck his head past the doorframe to look into the living room. Shinwon was sat on the floor, but he was leaning on the sofa, as Hongseok could tell from the tips of his tails poking out from the other side of the sofa.

“Aren’t you meant to be working?” said Shinwon, without turning around.

“I need a wee,” said Hongseok. He took a step back. “You can turn on the TV, it’s fine. Just don’t have it on too loud.”

Shinwon stood up at his words. Hongseok decided it was best not to pursue the conversation any further, and he continued walking to the toilet. As he washed his hands, he smiled when he faintly heard the TV through the door; and when he passed the living room again, he eyed the sofa to find Shinwon still sat on the floor in front of it.

Youngjo called at ten past five, and although he started off sounding cheery, he soon lowered his voice as he said, “You know we’re meeting up on Friday, after work?”

“Yeah, we’re going for a barbecue, aren’t we?” said Hongseok.

“Well, I wanted to tell you … I…” Youngjo sighed. “Look, there’s no hard feelings, okay?”

Hongseok frowned. Wait a minute, he wasn’t about to be dropped from their meet up, was he?

“It’s just…” Youngjo continued. “…Seoho and Geonhak are going to be there as well, you know that, and … I’m really sorry, but we just think it’s for the best if you’re not there this time.”

“What?” said Hongseok. He slumped into his chair, and he could feel his face paling. “Why?”

“Hongseok, I’m so sorry, I am. I really want you to be there too, and so do all of us, but with everything that happened yesterday…” Youngjo did sound genuinely apologetic.

“We were getting things under control.” Hongseok tried to sit up, except he just slouched further. “We were working so hard.”

“I know. We all know, but … _but_ … jealousy is a dangerous thing, if you get what I mean, and … not everyone looks at the situation with the same view. You’re lucky that Geonhak didn’t try to get you sacked.”

All Hongseok could do was just dumbly agree. It had been bad enough that he’d been thrown out of the office, but to be removed from their post-work dinner as well? He already didn’t have much of a social life, and just the thought of being stuck in his flat all day on Friday while his colleagues were having dinner together was enough to bring tears to his eyes. He wiped his eyes dry as he listened to Youngjo apologise again, and then they said their goodbyes. The moment Hongseok hung up, he dumped his phone onto his desk, and pressed his hands over his face.

A second later, he heard a knock on the door. Before he could even tell Shinwon to go away, the gumiho barged in.

“Fuck them,” said Shinwon. He sounded so enraged that Hongseok dropped his hands to stare at him in surprise.

“What did you just say?” said Hongseok. He struggled to maintain eye contact with Shinwon, whose glare was so full of fire that Hongseok felt attacked, even though he knew the rage wasn’t directed at him.

“How dare they insult you like that.”

“You heard everything?” Hongseok had no idea why he was asking. Of course Shinwon would have heard.

“My bead is _not_ out of control. How dare they insult _me_. Do _I_ look like I’m out of control?”

“No.” Hongseok’s face soured as he sank so far into his seat that his arse was on the edge of the chair. He could feel his lower lip tremble as another round of tears threatened to spill. Shinwon didn’t even care about him, did he? He was just affronted that he’d been insulted.

“That Seoho guy knows about my powers, and if he’s still trying to pounce on you, then the problem is with him, not you.”

Hongseok nodded.

“I’ll have a barbecue with you on Friday,” Shinwon continued. “ _We’re_ going to have such a good time that those fuckers are going to regret siding with the wrong person.”

Hongseok stared. Did he just hear that right? Shinwon wanted to have dinner with him on Friday? Eventually, he said, “Do you mean it?”

“Do I look like I’d lie?”

Hongseok slid off his seat and kneeled down on the floor. He pushed himself up a second later, and without hesitation, he walked over to Shinwon and hugged him around his shoulders. He stayed there for a few seconds, until he realised that the gumiho was frozen solid underneath him, and he blushed a little as he drew back.

“Thank you,” said Hongseok. All the fury in Shinwon’s face was gone, but his expression was blank. “Sorry, I didn’t expect you to offer.”

“I’m … only doing what I have to do.” Shinwon continued to stare straight ahead. “Pick a good place, and we’ll have the time of our lives. I’ll split the bill with you.”

“You don’t have to.” 

“I want to.”

“Let’s talk about this later,” said Hongseok, and he shuffled out of his room.

All Shinwon had done was offer dinner, but just the thought of it was enough to keep Hongseok cheerful throughout Wednesday and Thursday. They settled into a routine of going out for lunch, and Hongseok picked a family-run restaurant on Wednesday that mainly sold rice dishes, and a fried chicken shop on Thursday. On both days, the main thing that Hongseok observed was just how cute Shinwon was; he always started things by refusing to eat anything—even though he always offered to pay—yet all Hongseok had to do was pick out a piece of meat or vegetable, and after a short resistance, Shinwon always gave in. He never admitted that the food was tasty, but Hongseok could tell he was thinking it from the way his tails wagged, and how he’d always take an extra bite when he thought nobody was looking.

They continued to kiss as usual, but Shinwon kept putting his arms around his hips as well. Not that Hongseok ever told him; it was a step up from when he had to stick his arms out to stop themselves from bumping into each other because Shinwon refused to touch him with his hands. Besides, while it was warm and comforting having so many tails wrapped around him, the addition of Shinwon’s arms felt even more special, like he was the only human he’d ever put his arms around.

When Hongseok finished work on Thursday, he found himself wishing that the dinner was taking place tonight instead. He had never been this excited before with his actual colleagues; and as much as he wanted to think that it was because he got to choose the restaurant for the first time, he knew as well that a lot of it was to do with Shinwon. This was their second dinner together, and the first one where neither person had to force the other to go; and a part of him was excited to see how Shinwon would react to the concept of a barbecue.

“You’re very cheerful today,” said Shinwon, when he was wrapping his tails around Hongseok.

“I’m looking forward to tomorrow,” said Hongseok. He put his hands on Shinwon’s shoulders, and he kept looking ahead as he felt Shinwon’s arms circle his hips again. “Are you?”

“Of course I am. Nobody gets away with being nasty to me or you.”

Hongseok shut his eyes as Shinwon neared, and then he felt their lips touch. For the first time, he thought he could feel Shinwon pressing down on him while his tongue explored his mouth. In response, Hongseok ran a hand up along Shinwon’s neck, and his palm settled on his nape while his fingertips lightly touched his hair. He wanted to tilt his head further to the right, but then Shinwon’s tongue left his mouth, and cool air touched his lips as the gumiho started to withdraw. Hongseok frowned—that wasn’t five seconds, that was too short—and he leaned in, and his lips met Shinwon’s again.

He heard Shinwon gasp out of surprise, and then Hongseok came to his senses. What the hell was he doing, kissing him twice? Before he could do anything though, Shinwon’s tongue was in his mouth again, and it was his turn to gasp. Hongseok shut his eyes even harder as he leaned in just that bit closer, and he felt the arms around his hips pull him in—

Shinwon drew back, and once again, it didn’t feel like five seconds had passed. Hongseok just stood still as he felt Shinwon’s tails and arms slide off him, and then he was hugging empty air. Hongseok peeked through one eye first, and he blushed when he saw how red Shinwon’s face was, and how he was wriggling his shoulders on the spot and looking down at their feet.

“Sorry,” said Hongseok, as he opened both eyes properly. He dropped his arms by his side, and then began to wring his hands. “I didn’t…”

“It’s okay.” Shinwon’s voice was so gentle that Hongseok just blushed even harder. “It’s, er, well, it’s one more kiss out of the way, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, well … did I tell you…?” Hongseok stuffed his hands into his pockets. He had to come up with an excuse, because how else was he meant to explain why he’d just kissed him twice in a row? “I’ve got a, er, an early call with a client tomorrow, so…”

“Oh. No, you didn’t. We’re not kissing in the morning then…?”

“Yeah, that’s right, we’re not. I … my call’s early, so … I … I don’t have the time.”

“Wow. Early bird catches the worm.”

“Yeah, something like that.” Hongseok pointed over Shinwon’s shoulder. “Do you need the toilet, or anything?”

Shinwon shook his head. “It’s all yours,” he said.

Hongseok mumbled his thanks as he walked past Shinwon, and he entered the bathroom and locked the door. The first thing he did was to bump his head repeatedly on the door. He didn’t have an early call tomorrow, and Shinwon, with his sensitive hearing, was going to know. Why didn’t he just say something simpler, or more believable, like … like…

Hongseok groaned again. There was no way that Shinwon kissed him again because he wanted to; the likeliest explanation was that Shinwon just wanted to get their kisses out of the way faster. If he wanted to cancel their plans for tomorrow, Hongseok would understand. He tried not to think about it as he brushed his teeth and washed his face, but there was still that little fear of being pulled aside when he opened the door again, and walked to his bedroom.

The only thing that Shinwon said to him was “goodnight”, but his face was still red. Hongseok decided to ignore it. After he’d turned the lights off and settled into his bed, however, he kept thinking about Shinwon, and he struggled to fall asleep.


	4. I feel like a flabby piece of skin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo the rating's gone up... also, this fic is now nearly 50k words long, which is originally how long I thought this fic would be.

It wasn’t like there was anything to stop Hongseok and Shinwon from kissing on Friday morning. Hongseok could walk out of his room, tell another lie to Shinwon about his call being cancelled, and then suggest that they kiss anyway. It wouldn’t have been difficult at all, since they still had about sixty-plus kisses to get through.

In the end, Hongseok didn’t leave his room until half ten, when he wanted to fetch a glass of water. As he reached the living room door, he knew that he shouldn’t stop, but he couldn’t resist looking past to see how Shinwon was doing. The gumiho hadn’t turned the TV on that morning; and the moment Hongseok looked in, Shinwon glanced over his own shoulder, and they made eye contact.

“Morning,” said Shinwon. His tails were draped over his torso.

“Morning,” said Hongseok. He wanted to keep walking, but his feet remained rooted to the floor. “You’re not watching anything today?”

“I am, in a bit.”

Hongseok nodded, and then continued on to the kitchen. Shinwon hadn’t said anything about the non-existent call that morning, and Hongseok had a feeling that he was deliberately keeping quiet on that subject.

They left the flat to grab lunch together; and since Hongseok didn’t fancy anything in particular, he decided to return to McDonalds. It was worth it just to see Shinwon’s face light up when he realised where they were going, and Hongseok smiled whenever he could feel Shinwon’s wagging tails brush the back of his calves. Hongseok ordered another Big Mac meal; and this time, Shinwon was more willing to eat the fries, and he ended up consuming half a patty.

“If you think that’s good, just wait until you try the barbecue tonight,” said Hongseok, when they were both finished eating.

“We’re still doing it tonight?” said Shinwon.

“Well, you didn’t tell me to cancel anything, so I thought we were still going.” Hongseok picked up his drink, which was still half-full, and he drank through the straw.

“Oh, right.” Shinwon looked surprised, like he hadn’t expected their dinner would be depending on him. His tails rose as he spoke. “Yeah, we’re still going. I … I have my honour to restore, and so do you.”

Well, that was one way of phrasing things. Before Hongseok knew it, Friday afternoon had disappeared, and he was seated in the restaurant with Shinwon opposite him. A waiter had taken their order, and a bottle of soju had arrived ahead of their food, but Shinwon was too engrossed with the grill imbedded into the middle of the table to notice anything else.

“Wait, let me get this right,” said Shinwon, after Hongseok had explained what a barbecue was. “You’ve ordered raw meat and uncooked vegetables, and you’re going to cook them by throwing them onto this metal thing here? Why?”

Hongseok laughed. “I can’t eat it raw, Shinwon.”

“No, I mean, don’t you lot go to restaurants to eat cooked food? Why would you pay for food that you have to cook yourself when you could do that at home?”

“It’s more fun this way.” Hongseok picked up the soju, and unscrewed the cap. “If you’d come along with my colleagues, you’d get what I mean. There were going to be eleven of us eating together, but … well, it’s just you and me now.”

He poured the soju into two cups. Shinwon curled a tail around his, and raised it up in front of him. Hongseok picked up his own cup, and they clinked their glasses together.

“We’re just as fun as eleven people together,” said Shinwon.

“We are,” said Hongseok. He managed to swallow half his drink before his throat stung too much for him to handle; and as he put his cup down, he noticed that Shinwon had also left some soju at the bottom. His face, however, was scrunched up, and Hongseok giggled at how adorable he looked. “Are you alright?”

“It’s been a while since I’ve had soju,” said Shinwon. He blinked rapidly. “Argh, I can never get used to the burn.”

Hongseok dabbed his own eyes dry. “Me too,” he said, after a while. “Have you ever been drunk?”

“I doubt it. I can’t drink too much alcohol anyway.” Shinwon straightened up in his seat. “I know how you lot behave when you’re drunk. I’ve seen a lot of drunken memories.”

“Oh, really?” Hongseok raised his cup. “What sort of memories have you seen?” He tossed his head back as he finished off the remaining soju.

Shinwon hummed. “My first one was when I saw a guy fall into a ditch. I thought he was long-sighted at first, but then I wondered why on earth he was swaying and shouting at the top of his voice.”

“Was he alright in the end?”

“Oh, yeah, I saw him get out of the ditch, but he was still very unsteady on his feet. Then I saw him propose to his girlfriend, and his memory was so normal that I thought he’d recovered from a strange illness. It took until I saw someone else getting drunk—like, seeing _and_ tasting the wine—that I realised why some of the memories I’d seen look weird.”

Hongseok nodded. As he picked up the bottle again, he said, “You must’ve seen a lot of things.”

“Yeah, it’s how I keep up with the progress humans have made over the years.”

“Don’t you ever want to experience some of those things for yourself, though?” Hongseok kept his head down as he filled up his cup. “I mean, like, do you ever look at … I don’t know, someone’s wedding memories, and think that you’d like to settle down with someone?”

Hongseok screwed the cap onto the soju again, and he looked up for the first time. Shinwon was staring at the grill again, but his cheeks were rosy; and even though he had several tails draped over his shoulders, Hongseok thought his fur was standing up on end.

Shinwon started to stroke a tail as he answered, “I don’t really have much choice. If I pick a human, then I’ll become human too after one thousand days. If I want another gumiho … well, things didn’t work out between me and Yuto, so…”

“Wait, hold on, you and Yuto were a couple?” Hongseok’s eyes widened a little as he put the bottle down.

“We were, briefly, at the start of 1998. We got together on the day Wooseok was born, and we broke up in May.”

“What happened, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Nothing did. That was the problem. Our relationship wasn’t going anywhere, and we figured that we were better off as normal friends.”

Hongseok smiled a little. “I can tell, you two are so close to each other.”

Shinwon looked up. His fur had relaxed again, but he had moved on to stroking another tail. “What about you?” he said. “How long was your last relationship?”

“The last one was the shortest one I’d had.” Hongseok leaned back into his chair, and he dragged his cup closer to the edge of the table. “It was with a guy I’d met at the gym. We lasted about six, seven months, somewhere around there, and then he dumped me.”

“How come?” Shinwon leaned in.

“I thought our relationship was working, but he didn’t. I saw him at the gym the week after we broke up, and he was flirting with another guy.”

“Well, he’s a massive idiot.” Shinwon’s eyes darted back and forth as his cheeks turned even pinker. He cleared his throat, and added, “I mean, I know a lot of people dump their partners because they think the grass is greener on the other side, when it’s usually all brown and wilted.”

Hongseok lifted his cup off the table. “You think he made the wrong decision.”

“Yes and no—”

Before Shinwon could elaborate any further, their food arrived. Hongseok had ordered pork, beef, and chicken, along with various vegetables on the side; and Shinwon was so engrossed in watching him cook one of each meat on the grill that they both forgot about what they had been saying beforehand.

“Try it,” said Hongseok, as he put the grilled chicken down on Shinwon’s plate. “I know you can’t eat pork, so I ordered the chicken for you. We’ll share the beef, and whatever vegetables you can eat.”

Shinwon took a bite out of the chicken, and then pulled a face that looked similar to his reaction to the soju. In the end, Shinwon ate the remaining chicken raw; and when it came to the beef, he switched between cooked and raw. Hongseok even taught Shinwon how to cook the pork, by letting him use the tongs. The first attempt almost ended in Shinwon serving undercooked pork, and Hongseok decided to leave one cooked slice on his plate so that Shinwon could tell when the meat was properly done. His confidence picked up, and half of the pork ended up being grilled by him.

“I think you’d make a good cook,” said Hongseok, as he ate another slice of Shinwon’s handiwork.

“Do you mean it, or are you just messing with me?” said Shinwon. He grabbed a handful of shiitake mushrooms.

“Well, you cooked most of the pork,” said Hongseok, as he grinned, “and so far, I think you’re doing a better job than all of my colleagues combined.”

“You don’t have to flatter me like that.” Shinwon stuffed the mushrooms into his mouth. “I’m just doing what you taught me.”

“I really mean it.”

One of Shinwon’s tails rose to cover his eyes. His cheeks were stuffed from the mushrooms, and Hongseok couldn’t look away from him. It didn’t matter that the pork brushed the corner of his mouth as it fell onto the table, or that there was nothing on his chopsticks anymore. He wondered if this was what it was like to be Yuto, to see this side of Shinwon every day.

“I feel like I need to teach you how to hold your drink,” said Hongseok, after they had finished their food, and all that was left was the soju. He filled Shinwon’s cup until it was half-full, and then he brought the bottle to his lips.

Shinwon raised his eyebrows. “Why?” he said. He sounded curious.

“I want to see what you’re like when you’re drunk. I think you’d act like a cat.”

Shinwon’s mouth dropped open. “I think I’d behave more like a dog than a cat.”

Hongseok took a swig, and then grinned as he set the bottle down. He was in the mood to tease Shinwon, and he said, “You look like a cat.”

Shinwon pouted, and Hongseok felt a blush creep across his cheeks. He was getting drunk, clearly, and not because he was staring at someone gorgeous. As he drank on, and Shinwon started to talk about something else, his mind began to wonder if it would be possible to walk home while encased in Shinwon’s tails. The weather was starting to warm up a little now that they were halfway through spring, but it was still cool enough that they needed to wear jackets.

“Hongseok?” he heard Shinwon say, jolting him out of his thoughts.

“Yeah?” said Hongseok.

“Are you even listening to me?”

Hongseok shook his head, and lifted up the soju bottle. “I think this is getting to me,” he said. “What were you saying?”

“I’ve paid the bill already.” Shinwon leaned in. “If you still want to kiss at ten, we should go now.”

“You paid it completely?” Hongseok stood up as he spoke. “You said we were going to split it.”

“Oh, it doesn’t matter. Let’s go.”

Hongseok could walk without swaying, his vision was still clear, and he kept trying to persuade Shinwon to split the bill like they had originally agreed.

“You really don’t have to pay me back,” said Shinwon, when they were descending down the stairs to the underground. “You taught me how to cook pork, and I had fun. Let me treat you.”

“I did most of the eating and drinking, though,” said Hongseok.

“That doesn’t matter.”

“You said the meal was to regain our honour.”

Shinwon looked a little embarrassed as he pulled his card out from his wallet. They were within sight of the barriers now.

“I think we have,” said Shinwon, “but that doesn’t mean we have to split the bill.”

The station was busy, and Hongseok couldn’t be bothered to keep arguing with Shinwon. Their tube carriage was packed full of people too, and Hongseok ended up squeezed between several people, with one hand grabbing the handrail, and the other holding onto Shinwon’s wrist. Somewhere along the journey, Hongseok’s hand slid down until he was holding Shinwon’s hand, but he didn’t notice it until they had left the train and they were forced to part to go through the barriers.

From the station, they had a fifteen minute walk back to the flat. Hongseok stayed close to Shinwon, but he became aware of how many times their arms brushed. Each swipe drove him just that bit crazier, until he decided that the best thing to do was to slip his hand inside Shinwon’s again. He thought he heard the gumiho gasp, but it was so quiet that he decided it was his mind playing tricks with him. Then, Shinwon’s fingers twitched before he clasped his hand over the back of Hongseok’s.

The first time they stopped was when they reached a pedestrian crossing. As they waited for the lights to change, Hongseok’s eyes widened slightly as he felt Shinwon wrap two tails around his hips, and two more across his shoulders. Hongseok’s grip on his hand tightened as he was pulled in even closer, and he could feel his whole face heating up. Shinwon’s furs were so warm that he could stay wrapped up in them forever; and he pouted a little when he saw the green man flash.

“Are your furs always this soft?” said Hongseok, when they reached the other side of the road.

“I hope so,” said Shinwon. “They’re my pride.”

“I can tell.” Hongseok breathed in, but all he could smell was cool, fresh air.

The feeling of being walked home was both alien and familiar to Hongseok. Maybe Jinho and Hwitaek had been right, maybe he had been single for too long. He’d forgotten how warm it felt to have somebody by his side as he returned home after an evening out. There was hardly anybody else around, and if it wasn’t for the cars passing by, it was almost like they were the only people moving, talking, living on the planet.

Hongseok squeezed Shinwon’s hand once more. Never again did he want to go anywhere on his own.

***

Shinwon had never thought it possible that Hongseok could be clingy. He knew that Hongseok had held his hand on the tube and on the walk back home, and it didn’t escape his attention whenever Hongseok walked closer to him, but he was gripping him like something bad would happen if they let go of each other. It was on a similar train of thought that Shinwon kept his tails around Hongseok as they completed their walk back to the flat. 

As they waited for a lift, Shinwon felt Hongseok rest his head on his shoulder. He craned his neck to hide his blushes. The last time he’d wrapped anyone in his tails like this had been Yuto, on the day before they broke up. It hadn’t been happy, though; they’d both known, deep down, that things weren’t working out. Shinwon wrapping his tails had almost been like a last grasp, a little question about their future. What had scared Shinwon the most was the potential aftermath of their breakup; he’d known that he could cope without having a romantic partner, but he had feared losing Yuto as a friend, especially after everything they’d gone through together.

Shinwon started when he felt Hongseok squeeze his hand.

“The lift’s here,” said Hongseok. Shinwon nodded, and followed him in. As the doors closed, Hongseok added, “You seemed lost in thought.”

“I was, a little.” Shinwon smiled. “It’s just been a while since I’ve had this, had…” The words were on the tip of Shinwon’s tongue; he wanted to tell Hongseok that it had been a long time since he’d felt anything close to what he used to have with Yuto, in those brief months they were together. “…such a nice meal out.”

Shinwon felt his face burn even harder, as they passed several floors in silence. He could swear it hadn’t been this difficult with Yuto. They had taken shelter under a tree, all wet and giddy, and—oh, okay, maybe they had cut out the speaking and gone straight to kissing—oh no, wait, that wasn’t—

“Same,” said Hongseok, when the lift pinged and the doors opened on their floor.

Shinwon had to let go of Hongseok for him to open the front door. He started by lifting up his tails, but he kept hold of his hand until it was Hongseok who untangled himself. As Shinwon’s hand gripped empty air now, he almost whined. In the space of a second, his hand had gone from warm to cold. He tried to grab Hongseok’s hand again when the door opened, but he went in too quickly for him, and Shinwon had to be content with waiting for just that bit longer.

Neither of them said anything as they took off their shoes and jackets. Before Shinwon knew it, his back was pressed to the wall as Hongseok stood in front of him, with his palms pressing down on the wall either side of Shinwon’s head. They stared at each other for a few seconds, and Shinwon forced himself to keep up eye contact, even though Hongseok’s agape lips were the most appealing part of his face right now.

“Is it ten already?” said Shinwon. Someone had to break the silence.

“Yeah, it is,” said Hongseok, without bothering to check the time.

Shinwon decided it was better to take his word for it, and he began to wrap his tails around Hongseok like usual. He never broke eye contact, not even when he felt Hongseok put his hands on the sides of his neck, and his thumbs brushed his jaw. Shinwon didn’t move until he felt Hongseok’s body pressed flush on top of his, and he shut his eyes as he closed the gap between their lips.

Like usual, Shinwon slipped his tongue inside Hongseok’s mouth; but this time, his tails were tingling too, and he could feel his blushes deepening. It was like Shinwon was discovering, for the first time since they’d started kissing three weeks ago, just how well their mouths fitted together. Even when his tongue left Hongseok’s mouth, their lips stayed touching, and the only moving things were Hongseok’s thumbs.

Shinwon stuck out his left arm, and circled Hongseok’s hips without touching him. At the same time, his right hand hovered over the back of Hongseok’s head, kept there by the small doubt that Hongseok didn’t feel anything for him. The only reason why they were still touching at the lips was because … because … because they hadn’t kissed that morning, so … so it was … well … it couldn’t be because Hongseok liked him back, no, he couldn’t possibly—

Shinwon’s eyes opened wide when he felt Hongseok’s lips move. It was a small, slow gesture, but his lips were actually moving, and his head was tilting just that little bit further to his right. His eyes were closed, and Shinwon thought he could see him blushing just as hard as he was. Hongseok was kissing him back. The logical part of Shinwon’s brain was screaming at him that he hadn’t misread him, that there was no way that this could mean anything else other than Hongseok kissing him back—

Hongseok’s eyes slowly opened as well, and he frowned a little as he pulled back. He looked confused enough that Shinwon felt his blood rush; and with a surge of confidence, Shinwon put his arm around Hongseok properly, and his hand clasped the back of his head to pull him in close again, and they kissed again. He heard Hongseok gasp when their lips touched, and he gasped again when Shinwon’s tongue entered him a second time. Any doubts Shinwon had just vanished as he closed his eyes. Hongseok’s lips were moving with more force and passion than before, and the hands on his neck shifted until one was nested in his hair, and his other arm was now hooked across his shoulders.

Shinwon moaned as he felt Hongseok’s tongue in his mouth, and his legs threatened to give way right there and then. It had been so long since anyone had kissed him back, or put their tongue in his mouth, or even just held him like Hongseok was right now. He was so used to kissing for the sake of his bead that he’d forgotten how it felt to have his heart flutter because someone loved him back. Hongseok was taking control, and Shinwon was giving it to him if it meant that they could stay kissing like this forever—

Shinwon whined when Hongseok parted from him. He threaded his hand even deeper through Hongseok’s hair as he recovered his breath, but he met Hongseok’s eyes again. His gaze was so full of desire that Shinwon didn’t give a damn about breathing anymore, and he lurched forward to capture Hongseok into another kiss. Hongseok moaned into his mouth, and the hand on the back of Shinwon’s head started to clench a fistful of hair.

Hongseok began to walk deeper into the flat, and Shinwon stumbled after him. He was unsteady on his feet, but Hongseok was holding him up, and Shinwon sighed repeatedly as he felt the muscles in Hongseok’s arms flex, and his abs seemed to protrude and press into Shinwon’s belly. Everything about Hongseok was screaming strong and powerful, and Shinwon was giddy knowing that someone so muscular had eyes for him. He heard Hongseok kick his bedroom door open, and then Shinwon was being dragged through the doorway and guided to the bed, where he fell over onto his back.

The soft landing broke their kiss. Hongseok wriggled his arms out from underneath Shinwon, and he shimmied his body until all the tails slid off him and landed, sprawled out over the mattress. Hongseok shifted so that he was straddling Shinwon’s upper thighs, and he pulled his own shirt off. Shinwon’s mouth dropped open as his eyes widened, and his attention was fully fixed on Hongseok’s muscles. Even as he arched his back and raised his head just high enough for Hongseok to remove his shirt for him, Shinwon’s focus was on the way how Hongseok’s muscles moved—

That was, until he felt both of Hongseok’s hands run through his hair again, and then Hongseok leaned in and kissed him again. His tongue went straight into Shinwon’s mouth, knocking into Shinwon’s tongue along the way; and the moan that followed was so deep that it sounded like it came from Hongseok’s diaphragm. A shiver ran down Shinwon’s spine, followed by something that was a mixture of a moan and a gasp when he felt the other man grind his hips down, and his erection rubbed against Shinwon’s.

Shinwon bucked his hips as high as he could go, desperate for more. He really wanted to swing his leg over Hongseok to keep his hips down, but his legs were pinned to the bed, and he whined into Hongseok’s mouth. Everything was new and overwhelming; and Shinwon was beginning to understand why he’d seen a fair share of sexual memories over the years. Each time Hongseok brought his hips down, the sensation was much more vivid than the second-hand feelings he’d experienced while watching a stranger’s memories.

Hongseok pulled back, and Shinwon opened his eyes. The other man’s face was as red as his lips, but Shinwon could detect a trace of sheepishness. He wanted to ask what was wrong, except his brain was blank, unable to process anything that didn’t involve Hongseok kissing him.

“I … um…” Hongseok started. His face seemed to turn even redder. “I’ve never … topped before…”

Shinwon flushed. This was the perfect opportunity to tell Hongseok that he’d never been in bed with anybody, full stop. Now was the chance to admit that the sexiest it had ever got with Yuto was a rather heavy make-out session—not unlike what they’d just done in the hallway—and they’d both been on the cusp of doing something more when a feeling of awkwardness had kicked in, and the night had trailed off into nothing.

“Me neither,” was all Shinwon ended up saying. It was like he’d forgotten how to talk, or process any language. All his brain could do was scream for more Hongseok, scream for his lips on his again, scream for them to go even further.

“Oh, right.” Hongseok’s eyes widened a little, like he was surprised.

“You do it…” said Shinwon, “please…”

Hongseok dipped his head again. He began to attack Shinwon’s neck, kissing him all over, and Shinwon tossed his head back as far as it would sink down into the mattress. He wanted to whinge when Hongseok stopped, and he felt his weight shift off his body and the mattress around him spring up; but before Shinwon could utter a syllable, he realised that Hongseok was unzipping his jeans. He arched his back to let Hongseok tug his jeans and briefs down together, and as he shook his legs free, it struck him that this his first time lying on Hongseok’s bed. He wriggled slightly from how blatant Hongseok was eyeing his erection, and he raised his knee high enough to nudge his thigh, to tell him to strip as well.

Shinwon watched on as Hongseok wriggled out of his own jeans, and he wanted to complain the moment he saw how perfectly sculpted Hongseok’s entire body was. Before he could get the words out, however, he saw Hongseok climb back onto the bed to position himself between his legs, and then he was kissing a spot on Shinwon’s inner thigh that he had no idea was sensitive until now.

It wasn’t like Shinwon was a complete novice here; he too had gone through what could be considered a “teenage phase” where he’d wanked himself off with his hand. When Hongseok’s tongue swirled around the tip of his cock, Shinwon gasped and bucked his hips; and he moaned when Hongseok took his cock fully into his mouth with no hesitation. Everything that Hongseok was doing now was more pleasurable than what his own hand could ever achieve, and Shinwon only regretted that he’d waited for so long before finding this out.

With every muffled moan that Shinwon could hear, he wanted to sit up and watch Hongseok suck him off. Whenever he tried to prop himself up on his elbows, however, Hongseok always chose that moment to do something with his tongue, and the pleasure just knocked Shinwon down onto his back again. He jerked his hips once, just to test how it would feel to fuck into Hongseok’s mouth; and the obscene sound that followed was almost enough to tip Shinwon over. He managed to raise his head long enough to see how pretty and rosy Hongseok looked with his lips around his cock—and before he could even think about giving him a warning, he spilled into Hongseok’s mouth.

Hongseok didn’t say a word as he waited for Shinwon to finish before pulling off him. Instead, he lurched forwards and caught Shinwon’s lips in a sloppy, heated kiss. It didn’t matter that Shinwon could taste himself; he grumbled for Hongseok to keep touching him, to give him more. When their kiss seemed to drag on for too long, Shinwon wrapped his hand around Hongseok’s erection, and he stroked him a few times before Hongseok drew back from him and got off the bed.

“Don’t … don’t do that,” said Hongseok. His words would have sounded more like a warning if he wasn’t so breathless. “Or I’m not going to last.”

Shinwon would have answered him back, had he not been overwhelmed still by the blowjob. Instead, he watched on as Hongseok opened a drawer from the other side of the room and took out a bottle of lube and a condom packet. Shinwon bit his lip when Hongseok sat down on the bed again and uncapped the bottle.

“Let me know if you’re uncomfortable, or if I’m hurting you,” said Hongseok, when he positioned himself in-between Shinwon’s legs again.

In response, Shinwon just nodded. His head began to spin when Hongseok’s lubricated finger entered him, and he couldn’t hold back a moan when a second finger slipped in. The moment he felt a third finger, Shinwon whined under his breath, flustered and desperate and needy for more as he grinded down on Hongseok’s fingers.

“No…” Shinwon managed to grumble when he felt Hongseok retract his fingers.

Hongseok chuckled over the sound of foil being torn open. Shinwon pouted at him, even though he was focused on putting on the condom.

“Don’t laugh at me,” said Shinwon. There was no anger, nothing commanding in his voice.

“You’re so cute though,” said Hongseok. He leaned over and brushed Shinwon’s fringe back to kiss him on the forehead. “Are you okay?”

“Yes.” Shinwon nodded. “Hurry up.”

By the time Hongseok finally pushed into him slow and steady, giving Shinwon all the time he needed to adjust, nothing but pleasure shot through Shinwon’s body and to the ends of his tails. When Hongseok bottomed out, Shinwon’s breath hitched as he screwed his eyes shut, taking in the sensation of being filled up by Hongseok. He half-opened his eyes again to catch the blown-out look on Hongseok’s face; and he just about managed to tell Hongseok to start moving again.

It didn’t matter how many memories Shinwon had seen before; none of them could ever have sufficiently prepared him for now, when he actually had someone’s cock inside him. Hongseok was bigger than three fingers combined, and the stretch was uncomfortable at first—but whenever he pulled back, Shinwon hated how empty he suddenly felt. He whimpered and moaned with every thrust as his discomfort gradually shifted into bliss, and when Hongseok found his rhythm, Shinwon could feel his fingers digging into hips like he was trying to keep himself grounded.

It didn’t take long before Shinwon started to make fox-like cries and screeches. He barked and arched his back when Hongseok hit his prostate for the first time. By then, everything was too stimulating, too overwhelming, and it didn’t take Shinwon that much longer for him to come, untouched, as Hongseok continued to fuck into him. Tears started to gather in the corners of his eyes as the overstimulation began to get to him, until Hongseok finished inside him after several more sloppy, urgent thrusts. Shinwon gasped when Hongseok slumped on top of him, sweaty and just as out of breath as he was; and he used all the energy he had left in him to stroke the top of Hongseok’s head, as he felt the last of his orgasm spill into the condom.

Shinwon gaped when Hongseok pulled out of him, and he pouted when he saw Hongseok stand up. He wanted to stop his housemate from leaving the room, but he was too exhausted to raise even a finger; and after lying down alone for what felt like an eternity, Hongseok returned with a box of tissues. Shinwon managed to smiled at him when he wiped him down, and then he gasped when he was gently rolled onto his side and Hongseok started to run a tissue over a tail.

“I didn’t…” Shinwon managed to splutter. “It’s okay…” He was pretty sure that his own cum had only streaked his and Hongseok’s bellies.

“I don’t want your fur clumping together,” said Hongseok. Shinwon blushed hard when he felt a kiss to the back of his shoulders. “You said they’re your pride.”

Shinwon never stopped blushing as he felt Hongseok check on all his tails, and he was so glad that he was facing away from him. Nobody outside of his family had ever cared for him like this before, and Hongseok had spoken so earnestly that Shinwon couldn’t help but grow suspicious that he was in some kind of dream. Perfect people simply didn’t—no, couldn’t—exist.

“Are you alright, by the way?” said Hongseok, when he had moved on to the fifth or sixth tail.

“Yeah,” said Shinwon. “I’m fine.”

Shinwon stayed on his side until Hongseok left to throw the tissues away. When he was alone, he rolled onto his back once more, and he kept staring at the door until it opened. The moment he saw Hongseok again, he held out his arms; and when Hongseok joined him, he wrapped his tails around him until his torso was fully covered. He slipped his hands through Hongseok’s hair while the latter pulled the duvet over their now-entangled legs.

Shinwon pursed his lips slightly as they both settled down, and their eyes met again. Hongseok shifted until he was partially lying on top of Shinwon, and then he cupped Shinwon’s cheek as he leaned in for another kiss. All the fire was gone, and the passion that had been there had shifted into something slower, gentler, and more delicate, but it still made Shinwon’s heart flutter and he sighed into Hongseok’s mouth. He forgot how to breathe when they separated, and even more so when he saw Hongseok’s heavy eyes and slightly parted lips. If only Hongseok could look at him like that forever.

Hongseok rested his head partially on the pillow and partially on Shinwon’s shoulder, and Shinwon tightened his tails around him as his arms settled on Hongseok’s shoulders. He didn’t want to fall asleep; he wanted to savour the feeling of having Hongseok’s body pressed up against him; he wanted to remember how tonight felt. At some point though, tiredness finally got the better of Shinwon, and he managed to sleep through the night.

When Shinwon woke up, there was sunlight shining through the windows. He had no idea how far into the morning it was, but he didn’t care; as he opened his eyes, he could feel someone moving, and he looked down to find Hongseok also rousing from his sleep. He kissed him on the forehead, and then smiled when he saw Hongseok look up at him.

“Morning,” said Shinwon.

“Morning,” said Hongseok, also smiling. His hair was tousled in all directions, and he looked so cute that Shinwon wanted to kiss and coddle him so badly—

Wait a minute. This was Hongseok he was looking at. Hongseok. _Hongseok_.

Hongseok’s eyes widened as he lifted his head off Shinwon’s shoulder. Shinwon’s mouth dropped open as memories of everything they’d done last night flashed before his eyes. He pulled his tails free and scurried away from Hongseok until his back bumped into the wall, and he sat up before wincing and shifting onto his side instead. It didn’t matter that most of the duvet ended up on Hongseok’s side of the bed; Shinwon draped all his tails into his lap, even though covering himself up was pointless, really, since they’d already gone way further than just staring at each other’s naked bodies.

Shinwon had never tried blushing so fast in such a short space of time. Hongseok pulled the duvet up to his chest, and his face was just as red. A little bit of everything was contributing to Shinwon’s blushes; the fact that he’d slept with Hongseok; that all he’d felt last night was pure pleasure; that he had lost his virginity to a _human_ of all the creatures on the earth; that Hongseok did fancy him, and Shinwon’s feelings weren’t unrequited; that he’d lost his virginity to _Hongseok_ of all people; and yet he really wanted to lean back over that tiny gap between them and kiss Hongseok, because he’d never felt so good kissing anyone before.

“Did…” Hongseok began, though his voice wobbled as he spoke. “…did you … sleep well, last night?”

Shinwon nodded. “Did you?” he said.

“Yeah. Shinwon…” Hongseok swallowed. Shinwon made eye contact with him for a second before he looked down at his chin instead. It was taking a lot of willpower to avoid glancing at his lips.

“Thank you,” said Shinwon, when Hongseok failed to keep talking. “For last night.”

“You don’t have to…” Hongseok paused again. “I … I still haven’t … I mean, you paid for the bill, after all…”

Despite himself, Shinwon giggled. “Are you never going to drop the bill?”

“Fair enough.” Hongseok grinned, but he began to fiddle with the corner of the duvet. “Are you … you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Shinwon blushed even harder when he remembered how Hongseok had taken care of him.

“What about your tails?”

Shinwon ran a hand over the first tail he touched. His fur was still smooth and soft.

“It’s all fine,” he said. “Thanks for cleaning them. It’s not … nobody’s ever really cared about my tails before…”

Hongseok frowned. “Not even Yuto?”

Shinwon also frowned, before it clicked a second later that Hongseok only knew they’d dated. He couldn’t look away from Hongseok’s face as he blurted out, “I … well, I … we never went this far…”

“Oh, so…” Hongseok’s eyes widened even more, and the duvet dropped so that his upper body was completely exposed. “…you mean, last night … was the first time you’d … you had sex, ever?”

Shinwon nodded. He couldn’t tell if that was shock or confusion or judgement on Hongseok’s face, but he was blushing so much that he was about to combust if he stayed there any longer. He shifted so that he was kneeling, and he made sure his tails continued to cover up his lap.

“Don’t let me hold you up,” he said. He glanced down at the mattress. “You should shower, get breakfast, do whatever you do in the morning.”

Hongseok didn’t say anything. Shinwon kept looking down, and he remained frozen in place until Hongseok had gathered his clothes and left the room. The moment he was alone, Shinwon laid down on his front to reach for his jeans, which were tangled with his underwear in a pile by the foot of his bed, and he plucked his phone out of the pocket. His hands trembled as he unlocked his phone, and he tapped the screen in short, sharp bursts before he found Yuto’s number.

To his relief, Yuto picked up after two rings. “Morning, hyung.”

“Yuto, please tell me I can come over and see you now.” Shinwon spoke quicker than he’d intended, but he could just about hear Hongseok shut the door to the bathroom further down the flat, and he wanted to get out while Hongseok was distracted.

“What?” said Yuto. Shinwon almost cursed out loud. This was not the time for confusion. “You want to come over?”

“Yes—please—it’s an emergency. I need to talk to you—”

There was a faint groan in the background of Yuto’s side, and a ruffling of sheets.

“How about I come to yours?” said Yuto.

Shinwon’s heart dropped at his words. “No, no, I can’t stay here. I _have_ to come to yours, please.”

A pause followed, before Yuto chimed in with, “Okay, I’ll see you in a bit.”

Shinwon let out a protracted sigh of relief, and he hung up not long after. He ended up sliding, head-first, off the bed; and when he dressed himself again, he couldn’t help but listen out to what Hongseok was doing. The bathroom door was still locked, and although there was running water, it sounded like he had turned on the tap rather than the shower. No, wait, why should he care about what Hongseok was doing?

Despite the temptation to just leave the flat without saying a word, Shinwon knocked on the bathroom door anyway. He heard a dull thud as the tap was switched off.

“I’m going out,” said Shinwon. “I’m meeting Yuto now.”

“Oh, right,” said Hongseok. He sounded louder than Shinwon had been expecting, like he was standing right by the door. “When … when are you coming back?”

“I don’t know. I might be a while. I’ll see you later.”

“See you.”

Shinwon kept his head down as he put on his shoes, and he walked out of the flat. When he was inside the lift, he leaned on the wall for support; and he almost couldn’t stand upright on his own when the doors opened at the lobby. From there, it was a case of Shinwon forcing himself to keep his thoughts clear until he arrived at Yuto’s flat. As he waited for the kitsune to answer the door, he suddenly remembered that his friend wasn’t living alone, and he shuffled around on the spot as he hoped that Wooseok was either still asleep, or had happened to gone out—

“Hyung, what’s wrong?” said Yuto. Shinwon jumped; since when did the door open?

When he tried to speak, all that came out were jumbled vowels and consonants. He let Yuto guide him into his flat, where he was eventually seated on the thankfully soft sofa. Shinwon held his face in his hands while Yuto ran his own hands and tails up and down his back, and he let himself melt into the touch of the younger man.

“Where’s Wooseok?” said Shinwon, after a while. “Is he in?”

“No. He got a call from Hongseok, about five minutes after you rang.”

Shinwon groaned. There was no doubt that they both knew something major had happened.

“He’s at Hongseok’s, right now?” said Shinwon.

“Yeah.” Yuto placed an arm across his shoulders, and his tails continued to move. “Did you argue with Hongseok?”

“No.”

“Did he insult you?”

“No.”

“What happened? What’s the emergency?”

Shinwon dragged his hands down so only his nose and mouth were covered. He looked at Yuto, and took in a deep breath as he dropped his arms.

“Hongseok’s stupid work colleagues dropped him from the office,” he started, “and then they also dropped him from a meal that was meant to happen yesterday, because they were all taking the side of a guy who was jealous that his crush was crushing on Hongseok. That guy even had the fucking nerve to blame it on _my_ powers, and I felt so insulted that I said to Hongseok that _we_ should have our own meal to get back at those bastards, and he said yes and took me to this place where you cook your own food and I learnt how to cook pork and it was really fun, and then we—we went home and—and we—we properly kissed—”

Yuto’s eyes widened as his mouth fell open, and the tails on Shinwon’s back froze.

“You mean Hongseok kissed you back?” Yuto repeated.

Shinwon managed to raise his own tails to cover his entire face. “He did.”

“Hyung—”

“We kissed, and then Hongseok, like, led me into his bedroom, and I just let him put me down on his bed and he started stripping me and he was just so _hot_ , like, I really wanted him to do more, and—and—we, you know, we got—we did _things_ —”

Yuto gasped. “You slept together?” he said. Shinwon nodded. “Hyung…”

A short silence followed.

“I know, Yuto-ya. The worst thing is, I know we kissed loads last night, but I don’t know how many we did. I’ve lost track of our kisses.”

Yuto raised his eyebrows. “Does Hongseok still have your bead?”

“Yes.”

“What if you had to guess?”

“We must be at … forty-something? Fifty?” Shinwon groaned. “I don’t know.”

“When did you start fancying him?”

“I don’t know—” Shinwon sat upright, suddenly aware of the question. His tails slid off his face. “Don’t ask me that. I’m not in love with him.” His tone grew weaker the longer he spoke, until the last words came out as a whisper.

“Why not? What don’t you like about Hongseok?”

“He’s _human_ , he lives in the ugliest building in the world, and it’s not fair that his head’s so small and cute but his muscles are huge and his six pack’s amazing and his arms and legs are packed and so’s his—” Shinwon pointed at his lap. “—and he’s so hot that I feel like a flabby piece of skin next to him.”

Yuto raised his eyebrows. “Right, so you do love him.”

“I do _not_.”

“It sounds like you do.”

“Why would I be in love with someone who makes me feel like I’ve wasted 100 years of my life by never working out once? I could have been more ripped than him.”

Yuto squealed as he pounced on top of Shinwon, hugging him around his shoulders as they toppled over onto the armrest.

“You’re not, and that’s what I like about you,” said Yuto.

Shinwon rolled his eyes as he shimmied his shoulders free.

“Hahaha, really funny, I’m not buff so therefore I’m a damsel in distress,” he said.

“Seriously, hyung,” said Yuto, as he sat up again, “I know you’d never sleep with anyone unless you _really_ liked them.”

Shinwon blushed as he too sat up. “I did like you. I really did.”

“I know, but it was for the best we never got that far.”

“I just…” Shinwon groaned as he hung his head and covered his face with his tails. “I’m so stupid, Yuto. How did I not see this coming? You know he’s been single for _three years_ —”

“He has.”

“—and I’m the first person in _three years_ who’s been kissing him and touching him twice every day for three weeks. Of course he was going to start falling for me.”

“I could say the same thing about you.”

Shinwon crossed his arms. “He asked me about the legends as well. He wanted to know what our take on the romance ones were.”

Yuto raised his eyebrows. “Did you tell him?”

“ _No_ , of course not. You know I hate those stories.” Shinwon bit his lip. His hatred came from the fact that he’d never understood why the human and gumiho always fell in love during the one hundred kisses, or why each legend always ended with some semblance of genuine love between the protagonists. He’d always viewed the hundred kisses as a necessity that no gumiho should ever need to use, and not a tool for triggering love.

Except, now that Shinwon was working to get his bead back, he was starting to understand why the legends always ended the way they did. Was he in love with Hongseok as a person? Maybe not. Was he smitten with the way Hongseok’s body felt pressed up against him, and how their lips fitted perfectly together, and how hot and flustered and crazy he’d made Shinwon as he’d pounded harder and harder into him? Yes, he was.

“You should be honest with Hongseok,” said Yuto. “Tell him about the real endings of the legends. I think it’ll really help you both.”

Shinwon just huffed.

***

Hongseok couldn’t face returning to his own bedroom, so he ended up telling Wooseok about the events over the last week whilst lying face down on the spare bed. He didn’t care that his face was in the pillow and that his words were probably coming out muffled. To be honest, he wasn’t entirely sure why he called Wooseok over; it wasn’t like he had the ability to travel back in time or something similar.

“—and now I don’t know what to do,” said Hongseok, as he ended his rant at last. “Wooseok-ie, tell me what I should do.”

“Hold on, I didn’t get half the stuff you just told me,” said Wooseok.

Hongseok groaned as he sat up. “Don’t make me tell you again.”

“What happened? Why did Shinwon want to come over to ours in a hurry, and why did you call me over?” Wooseok looked around. “Why aren’t we in your bedroom?”

“This is Shinwon’s fault.” Hongseok grabbed the pillow and lifted it up to his face.

“What did he do?”

“It’s his fault for being so stupidly attractive.” Hongseok buried his head even deeper into the pillow.

There was a slight pause before Wooseok said, “Okay—”

“I kissed him _twice_ on Thursday. I don’t know what the hell I was thinking when we did it, but we kissed _twice_ in a row.”

“Oh, wow, that’s—”

“Then we went out for dinner last night and it was really fun and he looked really cute when he was eating all this stuff he’d never had before, but I didn’t think we’d—we came back in time for our kiss, and I didn’t want him to stop, and he put his arms around me and oh my god, Wooseok, it felt so _good_ —”

Wooseok just gasped. His mouth hung open as he continued to stare, wide-eyed, at Hongseok.

“—and it’s been so long since I felt like that,” Hongseok continued, “and then Shinwon was on my bed completely naked and it’s not fair, Wooseok-ie. Why do some people look so beautiful no matter what’s going on, and I’m like a sack of potatoes?”

Wooseok shuffled in closer. “You’re not ugly—” he said.

Hongseok cut him off by shaking his head. “I am, next to him.”

“Oh, I get what’s happened, hyung. You’ve fallen in love with him.”

Hongseok groaned again as he hung his head. “So, I’m there, just looking at the most gorgeous person I’ve ever seen, and I … I … I told him I’d never topped, and I thought he meant he’d never topped either, and he … you know … asked me to do it for him, and then he told me just now that he had never been in bed with _anyone_ , ever. Wooseok, I took his virginity.”

Wooseok made an odd squealing noise. “Hey, that’s another thing we have in common, hyung.”

Hongseok glanced, horrified, at the younger man. “No,” he said, “no, _no_ , don’t you see the problem? Shinwon lost his virginity to _me_. Me, Wooseok. Why me?”

Wooseok frowned. “Why can’t he lose it to you?”

“Well, because … cause … he should’ve lost his virginity to some Joseon guy ages ago, before I was even born. Not to me. I’m just … I’m just some guy that happened to exist, that’s all.” Hongseok tucked his knees up to his chest, and he wrapped his arms across his legs. “There’s nothing special or different about me.”

Hongseok felt Wooseok put an arm across his shoulders, and he leaned in to rest his head on his shoulder.

“You are special,” said Wooseok. “He wanted _you_ , hyung.”

“It’s only because we’re living together. Do you really think he would’ve looked at me twice if I had never swallowed his bead?”

“I don’t think you would have, either.”

Hongseok sighed, and he let Wooseok hug him across the shoulders.

“Come on, hyung, this isn’t a bad thing. It’s about time you had a boyfriend again.”

Hongseok started, and he elbowed Wooseok away from him. “I’d rather anyone but him,” he said, but there was barely any confidence in his tone.

“What’s so bad about him? You must like him if you got into bed with him.”

“He’s a gumiho, and he’s a knob.”

Wooseok raised his eyebrows. “Is he really?”

“He’s not even human.” Hongseok stretched out his legs, and crossed his arms across his chest.

“I don’t know, he looks and behaves like one.”

“No, he doesn’t. I’ve seen him eat raw pigeon in front of me. He doesn’t bother cooking any of his food. He always complains about me using oil and overcooking meat.”

“You know he can’t eat like a human.”

“So? That doesn’t mean he has the right to moan about my food.”

“Okay, so, if you don’t like him, then why aren’t we in your bedroom? Why are we talking in the guest room?”

“It … because, it … it smells like him.” The muscles in Hongseok’s arms tensed up.

“Does it?” Wooseok stood up, and Hongseok watched him leave the room. He came back in a few minutes later. “I can’t smell anything.”

“That’s your problem.”

“Sounds like you’re making excuses.”

Hongseok narrowed his eyes. “How dare you talk to me like that? I’m older than you.”

Wooseok laughed as he sat back down, and Hongseok shuffled away from him. He could come up with a multitude of excuses as to why he was avoiding his bedroom, but he couldn’t deny that Shinwon was the main reason. He had to admit that he’d never pulled anyone so far out of his league before, and he craved for Shinwon’s kisses in a way that he had never done with any of his exes. If he walked into his bedroom now, all he would be thinking about was Shinwon lying on his bed and looking at him, waiting for him to make the next move.

“Hongseok hyung,” said Wooseok, in a softer tone than before. “I know it’s scary, realising that you’re in love with something supernatural, but once you pass that barrier, it’s … it’s amazing. It’s like being in love with another human, but even better.”

“Yeah, but Wooseok, you fell for Yuto. You don’t hate nine tail foxes. You two didn’t get into bed first and then start dating. What happened with me and Shinwon is different.”

Wooseok hooked his arm around Hongseok’s shoulders again. Hongseok let him draw closer until they were hugging.

For the rest of the day, Wooseok stayed by Hongseok’s side. He accompanied him out of the flat to buy lunch, and they ended up taking a quick trip to the supermarket together. It was drawing close to half five when Yuto phoned Wooseok; and since Hongseok was sat next to Wooseok when the call came through, he ended up listening in on their conversation as well.

“How are you getting on with Hongseok?” said Yuto.

“We’ve had a good day together,” said Wooseok. “How’s Shinwon doing?”

Yuto hesitated before he answered, “Well, Shinwon hyung says he wants to sleep over at ours tonight. Is that okay?”

Wooseok glanced at Hongseok with a frown on his face.

“He can do what he likes,” said Hongseok. “I’m not his nanny.”

“Hongseok’s with you?” said Yuto.

“I’m sat next to him,” said Wooseok.

“See? I told you he wouldn’t mind,” came a fainter voice from Yuto’s end. Hongseok recognised it as Shinwon’s.

“Shinwon can stay over,” said Wooseok, “I think the guest room needs cleaning—”

“Foxes do not sleep on beds.” Shinwon sounded snappy, but Hongseok thought he could hear a weariness in his words as well.

“We’ll sort it out when Wooseok-ie gets home,” said Yuto. It sounded like he was talking to Shinwon.

“Wait,” said Wooseok, “if Shinwon’s staying with us, then Hongseok hyung’s on his own.”

Hongseok crossed his arms. “I’m not a child. I can live on my own.”

Wooseok’s eyes widened. “That’s not what I mean, hyung.”

“For goodness sake, Wooseok,” said Shinwon. This time, it sounded like he was closer to the phone. “He said he’s fine with me staying over.”

“Exactly,” said Hongseok. He continued to stare at Wooseok, who soon took the hint to move on the topic to something else.

Hongseok cooked dinner for himself and Wooseok, but he knew that he couldn’t keep his friend over for much longer. Hongseok had the flat to himself again just after half eight; but as soon as Wooseok left, he regretted sending him off so early. Shinwon had only started living in the flat three weeks ago, but already, the silence felt eerie, like it was his first night alone after a much longer period of time.

He sat down in front of the TV, but couldn’t pay attention to the variety show that he’d tuned into. He focused on his phone instead and started to message Jinho and Hwitaek, but it soon became clear that they were on a date, and Hongseok sighed as he dumped his phone by his side. He attempted to focus on the TV for a few minutes, before switching it off again and moving to his bedroom.

Hongseok sat down on his bed, but stood up again after five minutes. The longer he stayed there, the more convinced he became that he could smell Shinwon’s scent all over his bed. He moved into the spare room, which felt better for about ten minutes until the silence of the flat started to bug him again. He wanted to turn on the TV again as background noise; but he also thought about Shinwon whiling time away by watching the TV, and his heart sank as he remembered that he was alone.

Hongseok rolled onto his back, and he began to scroll through his phone. He drew up Shinwon’s number a few times, and his thumb did hover over the call button, but then he clicked out of the screen. No, Shinwon didn’t want to talk to him; if he did, he wouldn’t be staying over at Wooseok’s tonight. Hongseok was tempted to message Wooseok instead, but he stopped himself at the last minute. He doubted that Shinwon would like being checked up like this behind his back.

Before Hongseok knew it, the clocked had ticked over to ten. He sat up and glanced at the door, expecting a knock any second now; and he sighed as he stood up. As he went to use the bathroom, he tried to avoid looking into the living room; but when he came back out, he stopped by the door to look in for a few seconds, before moving on to his bedroom again.

How Hongseok even managed to get any sleep at all was beyond him. He just remembered staring at the ceiling, desperately trying not to think about how his bedsheets seemed to smell of Shinwon—and then the next thing he knew, he stretched his arms above his head as he groaned, and he opened his eyes to find his room lit up with sunlight.

Hongseok grappled around until his phone was in his hand. He squinted as the time came up on the screen: 7:15. Sighing, he dumped his phone by his pillow as he put his hands over his face, and tried to sleep again. Bloody body clock, he thought. He was so used to kissing Shinwon around this time that he’d woken up way earlier than he’d intended to. What was the point? He was alone. Shinwon had done a runner, and he was probably going to be stuck with Shinwon’s bead down his throat forever.

At that moment, he felt the bead expand slightly, and he sat up and coughed. Great. Even when Shinwon wasn’t here, he was still causing him problems somehow. Hongseok peeled back his duvet, and he was about to get off his bed when he saw a strand of red fur stuck to the underside. He twirled the fur between his fingers, and then started to laugh at the unexpected souvenir. No matter how hard he tried, it was just impossible to escape Shinwon, wasn’t it? Whether it was finding a stray strand of hair, or feeling his bead in his throat, or realising that the living room was silent because the TV was switched off, or even just opening the fridge and seeing the carton of eggs—everything in the flat was somehow associated with Shinwon.

Hongseok needed to get out of his flat. He didn’t care that it was too early in the morning for anything, really, he just had to leave. He brushed his teeth and made himself breakfast, but he stayed in the kitchen to eat. He returned to his bedroom afterwards to grab a set of clothes and his gym bag, and he stowed his laptop in his bag as well, but he got changed in the guest bedroom instead. He left his pyjamas strewn over the guest bed, and he kept his head down as he made his way over to the front door. He slipped his trainers on, and managed to get the door open without much hassle.

As Hongseok waited for the lift, he put his earphones in. At least he could still listen to music without being reminded of Shinwon. He kept his earphones in as he made his way to the gym, and nor did he take them off as he concentrated on his work-out. Afterwards, instead of returning home, Hongseok passed the time away by wandering around the town center—although he kept looking straight ahead as he passed McDonalds—before he decided to grab lunch. He almost walked into a café when he remembered that he’d taken Shinwon there for lunch once, and Shinwon had pinched quite a few pieces of his tuna sandwich; and he shook his head and walked off to a restaurant that was located around the corner instead.

As Hongseok waited for his food, he began to search his phone. He knew he should call Shinwon soon. What was the point in avoiding each other like this? Hongseok still had the bead inside him. He couldn’t bring himself to call Shinwon directly, however, and he gave up and phoned Wooseok instead.

“Is Shinwon still with you?” said Hongseok.

“No,” said Wooseok. “He left for the park this morning.”

“Oh.” Hongseok dragged his coffee closer to him. “He’s in the park?”

“Yeah. I got the feeling he didn’t want to stay at ours for too long.”

Hongseok hesitated, and then asked, “How was he last night? He didn’t give you any trouble, did he?”

“No, he slept in the living room. He said he does that at yours anyway?”

“He does. He’s never slept in the other bedroom.” Hongseok pursed his lips. Something felt weird about the fact that Shinwon had slept in his own bed, but not the spare one.

“You know you can call him directly, hyung?” There was a slight rise in Wooseok’s tone, and Hongseok could tell that they were both thinking the same thing.

“I didn’t want to bother him,” said Hongseok, as bluntly as he could.

“You’re not bothering him if you’re checking up on him.”

“If he wanted me to talk to him, he wouldn’t have slept over at yours.” Hongseok leaned back to let the waiter put his food down on the table.

“Can I be honest, hyung? I talked to Shinwon as well yesterday.”

“And?” Hongseok clasped his hand over the microphone to thank the waiter, but he still heard Wooseok’s reply.

“I don’t think he knows what he needs to do.”

Hongseok scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous, he does. He wouldn’t have gone to yours if he didn’t.”

Wooseok sounded unbothered as he continued, “Yuto says that he’s never seen Shinwon this confused before. He doesn’t know what he’s doing.”

“Can we talk about this later?” Hongseok picked up his chopsticks. “I want to eat my lunch.”

No matter how much Hongseok tried to ignore Wooseok’s words, it still bothered him enough that he couldn’t seem to pass the rest of the day in peace. He spent his afternoon in his flat, fully aware that Shinwon wasn’t there; and like before, he cooked and ate his dinner in the kitchen. As the evening drew on, the silence was getting too much—and at five minutes past ten, Hongseok put on his coat and left the flat.

He didn’t stop walking until he had reached the park. He seemed to be the only person there; and it was a feeling he tried to ignore as he walked through while yelling for Shinwon. Nothing happened, however, and he had no idea whether to be disappointed or not. What had he been expecting anyway? That Shinwon would appear at the first call? If he wanted to find him, he would have turned up at the flat already.

A thought occurred to Hongseok; the only reason he knew that Shinwon was in the park was thanks to Wooseok, but their conversation had happened ten hours ago. What if Shinwon had already left, and went to sleep over at Wooseok’s again? Or, maybe, what if Shinwon _had_ gone to find him? Was it even possible—?

Hongseok turned around, but he paused when he thought his feet had caught something. It was like he’d been entangled in something similar to a rope, but when he looked down, there was nothing there. He shook his feet anyway until he was free again—but when he took a step forward, he felt like there was another piece of rope strung across his chest.

“Shinwon…?” said Hongseok, as he brushed his chest. He knew that the gumiho had some magic abilities, but whatever was happening to him felt like a prank.

Hongseok took another step, but this time, it was like the rope was around both his chest and his shins. He tried to wriggle himself free as he took another step, but the rope was around his knees and waist as well. No matter how hard Hongseok patted himself and tried to slip his limbs free, the rope kept multiplying with each step he took.

“Shinwon—” Hongseok started to scream, when he realised that he was too far away from the entrance to the park, and that about half of his body was bound up by the rope. “Shinwon—Shinwon, help me—Shinwon—”

He remembered Shinwon saying something about evil spirits and how his bead wouldn’t be able to defend him. Hongseok almost swore out loud as he continued to writhe, but by then, whatever was tormenting him had bound enough of him that he lost his balance and fell over. He continued to roll around on the ground anyway, refusing to submit, but he could feel himself growing increasingly weak and tired. His throat was hoarse and he could hear his voice breaking, but right now, Shinwon was the only being who could save him. Shinwon had to, surely; he had to; he wouldn’t just leave him here, would he?

***

Shinwon shouldn’t have been surprised that Hongseok would come looking for him. On reflection, what he should have done was walk out of Yuto’s flat without telling him where he was going. He knew that if he’d stayed any longer, then they would have told Hongseok about every single thing he did; and the whole point of staying away was to give himself time to think things over.

He knew that the only way he would be able to solve anything was if he talked to Hongseok, but what the hell was there to say to him? Yuto kept insisting that he was in love when he wasn’t, even though there had been times when he’d felt like he was, and he did miss kissing Hongseok. Even now, when he’d heard Hongseok yell for him the first time, there was a part of him that wanted to rush out and wrap up Hongseok in his tails and kiss him stupid on the spot.

Shinwon was far enough from Hongseok that he could just about catch a glimpse him, but his sensitive hearing meant that he could hear Hongseok like they were standing next to each other. Besides, he didn’t need this right now. Something was wrong with the park today; he was certain that there were fewer ghosts hanging around at this time than usual, and everyone seemed frightened. Even Shinwon’s furs were raised up on ends as he strolled around, trying to work out what was causing the problem.

“—Help me—”

Shinwon’s heart dropped when he realised that was Hongseok’s voice. He glanced around, and he started to run when he saw Hongseok lying tied up on the ground, and a pale, glowing figure standing above him. Shinwon dashed as fast as he could. The closer he drew, the more certain he became that the thing looking down on Hongseok was the reason behind the sullen mood of the park; he could feel the dark energy radiating off the thing.

Shinwon barked the moment he was close enough. He snarled as he leapt over Hongseok, and he landed with his feet apart and all his tails sticking up. This time, his whole body seemed to tingle as his powers channelled into his hands, and he concentrated as he pushed as hard as he could. Just because he was a supernatural being himself, it didn’t mean that he could touch ghosts like they were solid things; if he had to touch them, he had to use his powers. He knew his powers had worked when he felt his palms make contact with something solid, and then the ghost stumbled backwards.

Shinwon barred his teeth as the ghost surged towards him again. He curled his hands into fists, and shoved again when his opponent was close enough. It didn’t matter how many times he had to keep pushing like this, or how many times he had to growl and bark; the important thing was that Hongseok was kept safe, and hopefully, the ghost would have the sense to leave the park.

“Shinwon…” Hongseok said, just loud enough to catch Shinwon’s attention.

It took a lot of effort for Shinwon to avoid looking over his shoulder. The ghost had backed off, but it was still there; and Shinwon barked and snarled and kept his fists raised until he saw the ghost drift off into another direction. He was tempted to chase it down, until he heard Hongseok call for him again; and all the rage he’d worked up disappeared as he turned around, and kneeled down.

“Are you okay?” said Shinwon.

The rope that had been holding Hongseok down had vanished, and he was propping himself up on his elbows. Shinwon put an arm across his back.

“What the hell was that?” said Hongseok. His face was pale.

“It was a bad ghost. Probably targeted you because you’re the only human around right now.”

Hongseok groaned as he tried and failed to sit up. Their eyes met for a second, until Shinwon looked away. As much as he wanted to cuddle Hongseok and kiss him right there, he knew that they had to get out of the park first.

“Can you walk?” said Shinwon.

Hongseok shook his head. “Give me a minute.”

“No. We’re not staying here.”

“Why not? The thing’s gone.”

“You’re vulnerable at this time of night.”

“I’ve been through—”

“Put your arms around my neck.” Shinwon lowered his head slightly as he slipped his other arm underneath Hongseok’s knees.

Hongseok chuckled. “You’re not going to carry me, are you?” he asked, as he put his arms around Shinwon’s neck anyway.

“I wouldn’t ask if I couldn’t do it.” Shinwon gritted his teeth as his tails tingled again, and then the power shot through his arms. He grunted as he lifted up Hongseok and staggered to his feet; and when he found his balance, he did his best to wrap his tails around Hongseok, so that he could keep his powers steady.

“I thought you were joking,” said Hongseok. He sounded a little muffled.

“I’m full of surprises.” Shinwon grinned, even though he was sure Hongseok couldn’t see him.

Shinwon started to walk. He could feel his arms and back straining already, and he frowned as he forced himself to concentrate on his powers.

“I’ve never been carried like this before,” said Hongseok. There was so much affection in his soft tone that Shinwon almost broke his concentration for a moment, and he thought he was about to drop Hongseok right there.

“Stop talking,” said Shinwon, without looking down. “I need to focus.”

“Okay.”

Shinwon felt Hongseok rest his head on his shoulder, and he kept looking straight ahead as he began to blush. He pursed his lips when he could feel Hongseok’s warm breath on his neck; and as they continued to walk in silence, he could sense Hongseok staring at him. Shinwon had to ignore it all, but Hongseok felt so warm and comfortable in his arms that it was becoming increasingly difficult with each step he took. 

It helped that they didn’t pass by many people on the way back. In what felt like no time at all, Shinwon was in the lobby and waiting for a lift to come down. He could have put Hongseok down—his body was aching, and he figured that Hongseok had more than recovered by now—but Hongseok felt so warm and cosy in his arms that he didn’t want to. He kept holding onto him as the lift arrived, and he used a tail to press the button.

“You can put me down,” said Hongseok, as the doors closed. “I’m fine.”

“It’s okay,” said Shinwon. He glanced down long enough to see Hongseok smiling at him. “We’re nearly home anyway.”

“How are you going to unlock the door?”

“I’ll think of something.”

When they reached their flat, Shinwon pouted as he was forced to lower Hongseok down to the floor, and his tails lifted off his body. Even though Hongseok was clearly fine standing up on his own, he still kept an arm around Shinwon’s neck as he unlocked the front door. They walked in together, took their shoes and coats off together, and walked into Hongseok’s bedroom. Hongseok landed on his back onto the bed first, and Shinwon grumbled as he laid down next to him, also on his back.

“You are so heavy,” said Shinwon.

“You could’ve put me down earlier,” said Hongseok. He sounded like he was teasing Shinwon.

“How was I supposed to know that? You should’ve told me.”

“You told me to be quiet because you needed to focus.”

Shinwon turned his head to look at Hongseok, and they laughed together as they made eye contact. They kept on laughing, but as they slowly stopped and Shinwon watched Hongseok’s face fall, he couldn’t look away. Hongseok’s mouth was slightly open, and his plump lips had never looked more kissable than that moment.

Hongseok rolled over onto his side, and he stretched out his right arm until he cupped Shinwon’s left cheek. Shinwon shuffled in that bit closer to him, but he stopped when he saw Hongseok also move in closer. He never broke eye contact as Hongseok climbed on top of him and their foreheads touched his and his hand brushed over his cheek and tangled through his hair. Shinwon placed a hand on the back of Hongseok’s head; and then he shut his eyes as their lips met for the first time in almost two days.

Shinwon’s tongue went into Hongseok’s mouth, drawing out a moan from both of them. It didn’t take long for them to start kissing like it had been years since their last kiss, and Shinwon’s heart was pounding like crazy. He felt Hongseok’s hand tug a fistful of his hair. Shinwon put his other hand on the small of his back at first, before his hand glided over the waistline of Hongseok’s jeans, and he splayed his fingers to grab as much of Hongseok’s arse as he could. He sighed when he felt Hongseok smile into the kiss.

“We need to talk,” said Hongseok, when they parted.

“I know,” said Shinwon, except he didn’t want to talk right now.

He drew Hongseok into another heated kiss instead. Hongseok rolled his hips, and Shinwon whimpered into his mouth. He bucked his hips, desperate for their bodies to be pressed even closer than they already were, even though Hongseok was pressing down so hard on him that Shinwon was certain he was about to fall through the mattress any second now.

Shinnwon whined when Hongseok pulled away from him, but his complaints were silenced when Hongseok kissed on the corner of his mouth, and then his jaw, and all over his Adam’s apple and the rest of his neck. Shinwon threw his head back to fully expose his neck just as he pinched Hongseok’s arse again, and he smiled when he heard Hongseok moan into his neck.

“We—we need to talk—” said Shinwon, in-between his gasps and pants. He bit his lip as Hongseok gently nipped his neck, followed by a tender kiss on his jaw.

“I know,” said Hongseok.

Shinwon knew that they should have talked at that point, but he was so turned on by Hongseok that the last thing he needed right now was a serious conversation. He didn’t even need to phrase his thoughts; he gasped when he felt Hongseok slip a hand underneath the hem of his shirt, and then Hongseok was kissing him on his lips again, and Shinwon bucked his hips once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Twitter: [ninetailkyungho](https://twitter.com/ninetailkyungho)


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